DRIVEN TO WIN

DRIVEN TO WIN, The Biography of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, by Nancy Wakeman, A Lerner Biography), Hard cover, 112 pp, with photos & illustrations $25.26, Grades 6-12, ISBN 0-8225-4917-4,


This is the first chapter of the biograhy of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, by Nancy Wakeman. Even as a young girl Babe knew she wanted to be the best athlete that ever lived. She excelled in many sports -- winning medals, breaking records and dazzling everybody with her athletic ability. Babe made many contributions to sports, including her role in creating the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association. In 1950 the Associated Press named her Greatest Female Athlete of the Half-Century. The biography is intended for juveniles and can be purchased from the publisher, Lerner, or Amazon.com

Chapter 1
A Memorable Performance

On a hot summer day in July 1932, a taxicab screeched to a stop in front of Dyche Stadium in Evanston, Illinois. A slim, muscular young woman wearing a bright yellow tracksuit jumped out and ran into the sports arena. Babe Didrikson had arrived just in time.

She had been kept awake the night before by stomach pains, which a hotel doctor told her were caused by nervousness. Babe had dozed on and off all night and then overslept in the morning. Worried that she would be too late to compete in the American Athletic Union (AAU) women’s national track-and-field championships, Babe had run out of the hotel, hailed a taxicab, and changed into her tracksuit in the cab.

In the stadium, more than two hundred female athletes–representing twenty teams–nervously waited for the competition to begin. Dressed in their bright team colors, the women on each team stood clumped together, whispering to each other. As Babe moved through the crowd of athletes, a few of the women smiled or glanced at her, but no one approached her or offered words of encouragement. Babe stood by herself, swung her arms, and tried to warm up. At twenty-one, she was an outstanding competitor who had won medals, broken records, and dazzled everybody with her athletic ability. She was ready to win every event she had entered and didn’t hesitate to tell the other athletes. Babe had come to the AAU women’s nationals as a one woman team, representing the Golden Cyclones of Dallas, Texas.

The Golden Cyclones were a group of female athletes who played softball and basketball, and who competed at track-and-field meets. The Employers Casualty Insurance Company sponsored them. Babe had been working for Employers Casualty and competing for the Golden Cyclones for two years. As the time for the AAU meet approached, her coach, "Colonel" Melvin J. McCombs, studied women’s track-and-field records from all over the United States and compared them to Babe’s best efforts. When Babe asked him if the Golden Cyclones were going to compete in Evanston, his answer surprised her.

"I think if you enter enough different events and give your regular performance, you can do something that’s never been done before. I believe we can send you up there to represent Employers Casualty Company, and you can win the national championship for us all by yourself," he said.

There was more at stake than the national championship, however. That summer, the AAU women’s national track-and-field championships were combined with the tryouts for the U.S. Olympic team. The athletes who placed first, second, and third in each event would represent the United States at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Babe knew she was the best at what she did. Her natural athletic ability and her willingness to learn and to practice what she was taught had led her to many victories. But on that July day in Evanston, even she was nervous.

Dyche Stadium was packed with excited spectators. Thousands of people had come to the university town to watch the competition. As the announcer called the name of each team, groups of twenty or more women ran to the center of the stadium. Babe waited impatiently. At last the announcer called out, "The Golden Cyclones from Dallas, Texas!"

Babe grinned, waved her arms over her head, and ran onto the field. The crowd greeted the one-woman team with a tremendous roar. "It brought out the goose bumps all over me," Babe later recalled. Her nervousness vanished. She loved to compete and was ready to win. She would later remember that day in her autobiography: "It was one of those days in an athlete’s life when you know you’re just right. You feel you could fly. You’re like a feather floating in air."

Babe was entered in eight of the ten events: 80-meter hurdles, shot put, broad jump, high jump, 100-yard dash, discuss, javelin, and baseball throw. She raced from event to event. "For two and a half hours, I was flying all over the place," Babe said. "I’d run a heat in the 80-meter hurdles, and then I’d take one of my high jumps. Then I’d go over to the broad jump and take a turn at that. Then they’d be calling me to throw the javelin or put the eight-pound shot." Officials held up events until she was ready and gave her extra minutes to rest between each competition. By the end of the day, Babe’s performance had lived up to her bragging.

Babe won five of the events she entered, and tied for first in another. Although she rarely threw the eight-pound shot put, she surprised everybody by winning that competition with a throw of 39 feet, 6 and 1\4 inches. She shattered the women’s world record by throwing the javelin 139 feet, 3 inches–breaking her previous world record by 6 feet. In the baseball throw, she increased her own record with a toss of 272 feet, 2 inches. She flew over the 80-meter hurdles in 11.9 seconds, and also won the broad jump with a leap of 17 feet, 6 inches. Babe tied Jean Shiley for first place in the high jump. They both broke the world record with jumps of 5 feet, 3 and 3\16 inches. Babe also took fourth place in the discuss throw. The only event in which Babe did not place was the 100-yard dash.

At the end of the day, meet officials added all the points. Babe was the winner! With a total of 30 points, she had won the AAU championship for the Golden Cyclones. The twenty-two members of the Illinois Women’s Athletic Club took second place, with 22 points.

Babe was excited and proud. In less than three hours, she had won six gold medals, set four world records, won the AAU championship for her team, and secured a place on the U.S. Olympic women’s track-and-field team. She strolled around the stadium, playing her harmonica and talking to reporters. The sportswriters were always looking for a good story, and Babe loved to talk about herself. One reporter wrote that her victory at Dyche Stadium was "the most amazing series of performances ever accomplished by any individual, male or female, in track-and-field history."

Nancy Wakeman has worked as a social worker, candle-maker, child care provider, and counselor. She is now a free lance writer. Her poetry and prose have appeared in publications such as the San Francisco Bay Guardian, TRICYCLE--The Buddhist Review, VISIONS International and The Hollins Critic. She lives in San Francisco, CA.