Mildred Eella Didrikson remains arguably the best woman athlete of the 20th century. She was brash, talented, and she was from Texas. Known as the Texas tomboy she was a hustler who loved to exaggerate her feets and obscure her details of her life story.
She rejected dominant ideas of femininity, but she was not a feminist. Mildred was a self-promoter. She was a basketball star in the 1920s and the 30s when women's basketball was increasingly popular. It was a time of industrial league women's basketball industrial leagues were popular. While playing basketball for Employers Casualty, she reached national sporting prominence in the summer of 1932.
In track, she broke records in the shot put, the baseball throw, and the 8-meter race. She tied for the championship in the high jump. Unbelievably she earned more points by herself (30) than the entire second-place team representing the Illinois Athletic Club.
In the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, she set world records in the Javelin throw, 80-meter hurdles and lost in the high jump due to a technicality.
As she aged, she chose to play golf in the 1940s in the 1950s, setting more records along the way.
Babe - Basketball, Javelin, hurdle, high jump, baseball, swimming, diving, and golf- Sports Illustrated, and AP Female athlete of the century.
