Althea Gibson
Sometimes known as “the Jackie Robinson of tennis,” Gibson’s ascent to the top of the tennis world was as impressive as it was unlikely. Growing up poor in Harlem, she learned the game under the tutelage of New York Police Athletic League coaches. She won her first American Tennis Association tournament as a teenager in 1942, and in 1950, despite fierce opposition to her entry in the event, she became the first black player to pace the hallowed baselines at Wimbledon. In 1957, she became the first African-American to win tournaments both there and at the U.S. Open, accomplishments that netted her the Associated Press’ Female Athlete of the Year honors. In addition to winning 11 major titles, Gibson later became a successful professional golfer.
Next: Babe Didriksen Zaharias
Babe Didriksen Zaharias
Zaharias was born to play sports. That’s all there is to it. She was an All-American basketball player in high school, won three Olympic medals in track and field — gold in the javelin and 80-meter hurdles, silver in the high jump — and won three Women’s U.S. Open golf championships, the third after being diagnosed with cancer, which she succumbed to in 1956 at age 45. (She also became the first woman to qualify for and play in a men’s PGA Tour event, when she competed in the Los Angeles Open in 1945.) Zaharias is considered one of the greatest athletes, male or female, of the twentieth century. When asked once how she could drive a golf ball so far, she famously replied, “I just loosen my girdle and let the ball have it.”
