Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Redwood Community Radio's special series celebrating Women's History Month. Throughout history, women have led, innovated and broken barriers in every field, often against the odds. Let's dive into their stories and celebrate their achievements.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Mildred Ella Babe Didrickson Zakarias was one of America's foremost female athletes, an Olympic gold medal winner who broke world records in multiple sports and went on to found the Ladies Pro Golf Association. Didrickson was no doubt an inspiration to my mother, who was born in that same time period, was athletic and played sports even though it was not considered appropriate. Didrickson was born on June 26, 1911 in Texas and was the sixth of seven children. In 1915, her family moved to Beaumont and Didrickson began playing neighborhood baseball. Her frequent home runs earned her the nickname Babe, after baseball legend Babe Ruth. She excelled especially in basketball. At 18, she played on the Dallas Co. Basketball team, the Golden Cyclones, from 1929 to to 1932. At that time, women were not encouraged to compete in sports and Babe faced much sexism as well as claims that she might actually be a man. After reading about the 1928 Olympics, she vowed she would one day compete in Olympic track and field. During the qualifying trials, she made the cut in five events, but women were only allowed to participate in three. She won the first women's Olympic javelin and set a world record in winning the first Olympic 80 meter hurdles. In the high jump, she tied, breaking the world record. Looking for another challenge in 1933, she turned to golf. Babe won the Texas women's amateur in 1935. Babe continued to golf as well as play tennis and be a star on the bowling lanes. Babe married George Saharis in 1939. He became her manager and advisor. As an amateur golfer, Babe won an amazing 13 consecutive tournaments during 1946. Not only did she continue to win at golf, but for three straight years, 1945 through 47, AP named her the Female Athlete of the Year. She turned pro in the summer of 1947. When asked how she could regularly drive the ball some 250 yards, though she didn't weigh more than 145 pounds, she said, you gotta loosen your girdle and let it RIP.
In 1953, Babe was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery. Ever resilient. Four months later, she won the U.S. women's Open. Babe died of cancer in 1956 at the age of 45.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: These women's stories remind us that courage, resilience and vision can transform the world. Keep celebrating, keep learning and keep lifting each other up because history is still being written.
Oh, I get high.
