Shirley Babashoff

Shirley Babashoff

Personal information
Full name	Shirley Frances Babashoff
Nationality	United States
Born	(1957-01-31) January 31, 1957 (age 55) Whittier, USA
Height	5'10" (178 cm)
Weight	148 lbs (67 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Club	Mission Viejo Nadadores
Medal record Women’s swimming Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 1972 Munich 4x100 m freestyle Gold 1976 Montreal 4x100 m freestyle Silver 1972 Munich 100 m freestyle Silver 1972 Munich 200 m freestyle Silver 1976 Montreal 200 m freestyle Silver 1976 Montreal 400 m freestyle Silver 1976 Montreal 800 m freestyle Silver 1976 Montreal 4x100 m medley World Championships Gold 1975 Cali 200 m freestyle Gold 1975 Cali 400 m freestyle Silver 1973 Belgrad 100 m freestyle Silver 1973 Belgrad 200 m freestyle Silver 1973 Belgrad 4x100 m freestyle Silver 1973 Belgrad 4x100 m medley Silver 1975 Cali 4x100 m freestyle Silver 1975 Cali 4x100 m medley Silver 1975 Cali 100 m freestyle Bronze 1975 Cali 800 m freestyle

Shirley Frances Babashoff (born January 31, 1957 in Whittier, California)^[1] is a former swimmer from the United States, who set six world records and earned a total of eight individual Olympic medals in her career. She also won a gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle relay in both the 1972 (after her freshman year in high school) and 1976 Olympics, and she won the 1975 World Championship in both the 200 and 400 meter freestyle. Her photo also appeared once on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.

1976 Summer Olympics

At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, she won four silver medals and a gold medal in the 4x100 m freestyle relay in world record time, despite the competition being dominated by the East German swimmers. The four silver medals came in the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle, 800-meter freestyle, and the 400-meter medley relay. Although Babashoff never won an individual gold medal in Olympic competition, she is still regarded as one of the top swimmers in history, and is most vividly remembered for having swum the anchor leg on the gold-medal winning women's 4x100 m freestyle relay team, in its victory over the doped up, steroid-plagued 1976 East German women, in what is widely acknowledged as having been the single greatest race in the entire history of women's swimming. Prior to the relay, American sportscaster Donna de Varona picked Kornelia Ender and her East German teammates to win the event, but Jill Sterkel, Kim Peyton, and Wendy Boglioli teamed with Babashoff to pull off a great upset and set a world record in the process. After the event, de Varona said, "I was never happier to eat my words." Shirley Babashoff's time in winning the silver medal in the 400 meter freestyle at the 1976 Olympics would have defeated men's gold medalist Don Schollander twelve years earlier at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.

Personal

Babashoff was one of four children of Jack Babashoff, a machinist, and Vera Slivkoff, a homemaker. Her father, a second-generation Russian American, had been a swimming instructor in Hawaii and always wanted his own children to become Olympians.^[2]

In 1982, she was inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.^[3]

Babashoff was occasionally referred to as "Surly Shirley" and described as a "sore loser" by the media because of her public accusations of drug cheating by the East German swimmers. It was later proven that many East German athletes were using performance-enhancing drugs.

After her Olympic career ended, Babashoff coached swimming, had a son in 1986, whom she raised alone, and became a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service in Orange County, California.

On April 30, 2005, Shirley Babashoff received the Olympic Order, the highest award of the Olympic Movement, during the Inaugural Olympic Assembly luncheon. International Olympic Committee members Bob Ctvrtlik, Anita DeFrantz, and Jim Easton presented the award. The IOC established the Olympic Order in 1974 to honor individuals who have illustrated the Olympic Ideals through their actions, have achieved remarkable merit in the sporting world, or have rendered outstanding services to the Olympic cause, either through their own personal achievements or their contributions to the development of sport.

Her brother, Jack Babashoff, was the silver medal winner in the 100 meter freestyle swim at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Her sister, Debbie Babashoff, is also a swimmer. Shirley attended Fountain Valley High School in Fountain Valley, California, where one of her classmates was actress Michelle Pfeiffer. In 1973 she led the school to their first ever CIF Championship in Girls Swimming.

See also

• List of multiple Olympic medalists at a single Games

References

• Shirley Babashoff on the USOC-website
• The Olympian: Never Former Never Past July/August 2005 Vol. 1 No. 1
• Babashoff had mettle to speak out about steroids by Christine Brennan
• Shirley Babashoff Breaks 30-Year Silence on East Germany's Systematic Doping of Olympians, Swimming World Magazine.
• http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ July 13, 1992 "Babashoff And Ender."

v t e 1976 USA Olympic Swimming Team Men's Team Jim Babashoff Joe Bottom Mike Bruner Rick Colella Casey Converse Lawrence Dowler Billy Forrester Bruce Furniss Steve Furniss Brian Goodell Steven Gregg Bobby Hackett Gary Hall, Sr. Daniel Harrigan Paul Hartloff John Hencken Bob Jackson Charles Keating Tim McKee Jim Montgomery John Naber Douglas Northway Peter Rocca Tim Shaw Rodney Strachan Matt Vogel Chris Woo Women's Team Shirley Babashoff Melissa Belote Wendy Boglioli Brenda Borgh Lelei Fonoimoana Maryanne Graham Jeanne Haney Janis Hape Kathy Heddy Jennifer Hooker Linda Jezek Nicole Kramer Renee Laravie Renee MaGee Marcia Morey Kim Peyton Laurie Siering Miriam Smith Jill Sterkel Karen Thornton Tauna Vandewghe Wendy Weinberg Donnalee Wennerstrom Camille Wright Staff John Bogert Doc Counsilman (Men's Head Coach) Lawrence Dowler Frank Elm Carolyn Finneran Don Gambril George Haines Jim Montrella Jack Nelson Charlotte Piper Albert Schoenfield