-
Los Angeles Olympics
Babe Zaharias Video At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Babe Zaharias won two gold medals in javelin and the 80-meter hurdles. As well, she also won a silver medal in the high jump. Babe also became co-holder of two world records and set her own world record. She played for America during the olympics and the Associated Press named her 1932 Athlete of the Year. After the olympics, Babe became famous for her talent in golf. -
Los Angeles Open (PGA Tour)
In 1938 Babe Zaharias competed in the Los Angeles Open, which was a men's Professional Golfers' Association tournament. Babe missed the cut the first time around, but made the cut in every PGA tour she entered after that. No woman had ever tried this before, and no woman would try this again until six decades later with players Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie, and Suzy Whaley. Babe remains the only woman in history to make the cut in a PGA tour. -
1946-1947 Golf Tournaments
Babe won golf tournament after golf tournament and was named Women Athlete of the Year for a second time in 1945. Between 1946-1947, she won 17 straight tournaments, something no golfer had ever done. Of those 17 victories, included was the United States Amateur Golf Championships, the 1947 British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship( the first American to win), and three Women's Western Opens. She then helped found the LPGA, Ladies Professional Golfer's Association. -
Women's U.S. Open
In 1953 Babe Zaharias was diagnosed with colon cancer. Being the amazing athlete that she was, she made a comeback and won the Vare Trophy and the Women’s U.S. Open championship in 1954, only one month after surgery while still wearing a colostomy bag. By 1950 she had won every golf title available and by her death on Sept. 27th 1956, she had won a total of 82 golf tournaments. -
1st Woman to Run the Boston Marathon
Bobbi Gibb was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. She applied for the race and was rejected by director Will Clonely in a letter informing her that women were not physiologically capable of running a marathon and that under the AAU rules women were not allowed to run more than a mile and a half. Gibb snuck into the race anyways and finished in 03:21:40. She received a lot of publicity and helped inspire other women to fight for rights in athletics. -
1st Registered Woman to Run the Boston Marathon
Kathrine Switzer was the first registered female to run the Boston Marathon. She registered under the name K.V. Switzer and was accepted under the accusations that she was a male. About four miles into the race co-director Jock Semple jumped off of a bus and tried to grab Kathrine and take her number, telling her to get out of his race. Switzer's boyfriend was running with her and took Jock down telling Switzer to “run like hell.” -
Title IX
Cheerleading a Sport? Title IX states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance..."
—United States Code Section 20, -
Grove City College
In Pennsylvania, Grove City College brought suit that Title IX did not apply to college athletics because college athletic programs receive no direct federal support. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Grove City College. This led advocates for women's sport and civil rights to peruse a lobbying effort in the U.S Congress. -
First Women's Marathon at the Olympic Games
Joan Benoit Video In 1984 the Olympic Games held the first women's marathon. Joan Benoit took first place even though she had just had knee surgery months before. She won the race with a time of 2:24:52, just two minutes slower than the record she set on the Boston marathon course, which wasn't broken for 11 years after her. -
Civil Rights Act of 1987
Unhappy with the outcome of the U.S Supreme Court's ruling with Grove City College and Title IX, Congress superseded the court's decision by enacting the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, which was official passed on March 22nd, 1988. The act broadened the protections of Title IX to institution-wide operations instead of just to programs receiving federal financial aid. So, the women athletes of the late 1980s and 1990s may be referred to as “the first true Title IX Generation.”
