Babe Didrikson in Los Angeles

Babe Didrikson is not supposed to be this good at this many things. In Los Angeles 1932 she wins the 80-meter hurdles and the javelin, takes silver in the high jump, and would have entered more if the rules had let her. Then she becomes a golfer who wins majors.

The press calls her unladylike and cannot stop writing about her. She plays the insult as fuel. American women’s sport had stars. It did not have a character this large, this loud, and this obviously better than the field.

Later multi-sport women are compared to her because the language still needs a shorthand. 1932 is the Olympics half of the shorthand.