Mildred
Anyone can be considered a good athlete, but few can be called great. To be great you have to create changes in a sport that everyone can recognize. Being able to create a noticeable change will allow more opportunities for the ones who are still growing up and want to make their own path. A woman by the name of Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrickson Zaharias has done this. With the help of her exceptional athletic ability, she opened up a world of opportunities for women in the world of sports. She broke barriers and did what she knew she could accomplish. She lived a great life and left her footprints in the history of sports. Mildred Ella Didrickson was born on June 26, 1911 in Port Arthur, Texas. Her parents were Ole and Hannah who were born in Norway. When Mildred was four years old, her family moved to Beaumont, Texas. She had six brothers and sisters: Dora, Nancy, Ole, Lillie and Louis (twins), and Arthur. Mildred was the second youngest in her family. While growing up, Mildred enjoyed playing baseball. In one of her games she hit five homeruns and was later given the name "Babe." Sometimes while running errands for her mother she would turn it into a race and use the hedges as hurdles and jump over them and would time
In 1952, Mildred was operated on for a hernia. The Babe Zaharias Open was started in her honor in Beaumont, Texas in 1953. She won the first even, but later she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She underwent a serious operation on April 17, 1953 attempting to remove the cancer. Still uncured, she played golf and won the first tournament she entered after many long and painful treatments. Later that year Mildred competed in the All-American at the Tam O'Shanter, in the midsummer heat in Chicago, Illinois, finishing third. Only six months after her operation she won the Servin Women's Invitational. The next year in 1954, she was the U.S. Women's Open and the Tam O'Shanter All-American. In 1955, she won two tournaments but again was hospitalized in Galveston and underwent an operation for a ruptured disc. On September 27, 1956, Mildred Babe Didrickson, age 45, died at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas from colon cancer. Her and George were living in Tampa, Florida. She is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas. George Zaharias died in May of 1984 in Tampa, Florida at the age of 76. He is buried in Pueblo, Colorado. In her lifetime, Mildred Babe Didrickson accomplished many things. She opened many doors leading to opportunity. She left her mark in history and is most known for her accomplishments as a golfer. She was a great athlete that will be remembered for times to com
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Approximate Word count = 951
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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