It was terrific to see that Danica Patrick won her first IndyCar race on Sunday.
With the victory, Patrick became the first woman ever to win an IndyCar race. The win represents one more step taken by women athletes, one more barrier shattered. Patrick’s name joins an impressive list, one that includes such icons as Billie Jean King, Nancy Lieberman, Althea Gibson, Julie Krone and Lynette Woodward.
All of these women were pioneers in their sport, but they all owe a debt of gratitude to the greatest pioneer of them all, Babe Didrikson.
Decades before Title IX, Didrikson was performing feats that have yet to be duplicated. She was the ultimate multi-sport athlete, delivering world class performances in basketball, baseball, tennis, track, squash, golf, swimming, diving, skating and even billiards.
She is not only recognized as the greatest all-around woman athlete in history, she is certainly on the very short list of greatest athletes of any gender.
Consider this:
* In track and field, she qualified for five events at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Since women were deemed to be the weaker sex by the International Olympic Committee, Didrikson was allowed to compete in only three events. Her set a world record in the 80-meter hurdles, won the javelin with a throw of 143 feet, 4 inches, and took the silver in the high jump (losing gold on a technicality).
* In basketball, she led her team to victory in the Olympic qualifier, scoring 30 points (an personally outscoring the runner-up team by eight points)
* In baseball, pitched exhibition games against Major League teams and was reported to have struck out Joe DiMaggio on three pitches. Her hitting prowess gave her the nickname, “Babe.”
* In 1933, she turned her attention to golf and by 1935 had won the Texas Amateur. Didrikson would later turn pro and won 31 LPGA tournaments, including three US Opens. Her third US Open victory came 14 weeks after major surgery for cancer. She would win the event by 12 strokes.
The press was clearly torn by this incredible athlete. After the Olympics, Joe Williams of the New York World Telegram wrote: “It would be much better if she and her ilk stayed at home, got themselves prettied up and waited for the phone to ring.”
But Grantland Rice, the greatest sportswriter of his generation, appreciated Didrikson’s athletic genius: “She is beyond all belief until you see her perform. Then you finally understand that you are looking at the most flawless section of muscle harmony, of complete mental and physical coordination, the world of sport has ever seen.”
Didrickson loved to banter with the press and her fans. After blasting a drive 250 yards, she turned the men in the crowd and saisd “Don’t you wish you could hit it like that?”
When asked by a reporter if there was anything she didn’t play, her answer was a classic: “Yeah, dolls.”