Question: What Texas-born multi-sport athlete was named the Woman Athlete of the 20th Century by the Associated Press?
Answer: Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias. Born in Port Arthur in 1911, she excelled in basketball, baseball, golf, and track and field. In the 1932 Olympics, she won gold medals and set world records in the 80-meter hurdles and javelin throw, and she won a silver medal in the high jump. Following her Olympic success, she took up golf and devoted herself to the sport exclusively. Over the next two decades, she won 82 tournaments, including 10 major championships, and became a founding member of the LPGA. She remains the only woman to make the cut in a PGA tournament.
