Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson: Only athlete to win medals in running, jumping, and throwing in a single Olympic edition

She started by throwing a new Olympic record of 43.69m in javelin to secure her first gold medal, before proceeding to take gold in the 80m hurdles as well with a time of 11.7 seconds.

Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson threw a new Olympic record of 43.69m in javelin to secure her first gold medal. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES

The Paris Olympics are underway, and from August 1, all eyes will be keenly poised on athletics, one of the most hotly contested events at the Games.

Athletics at the Olympics are split into a variety of different events designed to test athletes’ abilities in running - 100-metre and 200-metre dash -, jumping - high jump and long jump -, and throwing - shot put and discus throw.

Athletes tend to specialise in one discipline, putting all of their energy into succeeding at a smaller number of events. Some athletes at their peak, like Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, and Irena Swewinska, have managed to win two of the three, but winning in all three disciplines has proved a much tougher task.

Across history, only one athlete has ever managed to win medals in running, jumping, and throwing in a single edition of Olympic Games: Mildred ‘Babe’ Didrikson.

Born in Port Arthur, Texas, sport seems to have come easily to Didrikson throughout her life. She was initially employed to play amateur basketball, but took up track and field as well. While competing for the company that had hired her to play basketball, she took part in the 1932 AAU Championships (part of which would serve as 1932 Los Angeles Olympic trials for Team USA) in the track and field event. She was comfortably the best at the Championships, qualifying easily, and hopes were high for the Olympics.

What she did at 1932 Olympics is something that no athlete has been able to match since. She started by throwing a new Olympic record of 43.69m in javelin to secure her first gold medal, before proceeding to take gold in the 80m hurdles as well with a time of 11.7 seconds.

Didrikson then moved on to the high jump, jumping 1.657m before her final attempt was contentiously disqualified for an improper technique, leaving her to settle with silver. Her Olympic record now stood at 3 events, 2 gold medals, and 1 silver medal; winning in running, throwing, and jumping.

However, her time at the 1932 Olympics was not without any controversy. Didrikson allegedly threw a bucket of ice water on African-American teammates Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes as she was against their inclusion in the team.

After the 1932 Games, she turned away from track and field, and decided to try her hand at a new sport instead, golf. There is an argument to be made that her golf career superseded her track and field career. Starting initially as an amateur before eventually turning professional, she once again took to it naturally.

In a distinguished career, she won 10 major championships, including one after she had been diagnosed with cancer in 1950). Didrikson was a founding member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, and was even given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2021.

She even had time to try to have a go at baseball, throwing pitches in a few Major League exhibition games.

Didrikson eventually passed away from cancer in 1956 at the age of 45. She left behind a tremendous legacy as an athlete capable of extraordinary feats across multiple sports, a legacy that will be remembered as the competitors prepare themselves for the sound of the starting gun this August.