SONIC YOUTH

After 16-year-old darts sensation Luke Littler became the youngest person to reach the PDC World Darts Championships final, SHARON GREEN celebrates the young stars who have set the sporting world alight...

1996

ACING IT: Martina Hingis was just 15 when she became the youngest ever tennis Grand Slam winner, pairing up with Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic to clinch the women’s doubles title at Wimbledon. The Swiss teenager had already won the French junior title in 1993, aged 12, and went on to win five major singles titles, including Wimbledon in 1997.

1997

IF THE COAT FITS: American golfing legend Tiger Woods was 21 when Nick Faldo helped him on with his winner’s green jacket after becoming the youngest golfer to win a Major with his 12-stroke victory in the US Masters in Augusta.

2008

DIVING IN: Aged 14 years and three months, diver Tom Daley became the youngest British Olympian since rowing coxswain Ken Lester, when he competed in the Beijing Olympics. The year before he’d become the youngest winner of a British senior title and went on to become the first British diver to win four Olympic medals, adding to his tally of two 10-metre platform world championships, which he won in 2009, aged 15, and again in 2017.

1998

THORPEDO: Aged just 14, Ian Thorpe became the youngest male to get the call-up into the Australian swimming team. The following year, at the World Championships in Perth, he emerged as the youngest swimming champion ever. He went on to win nine Olympic medals, including five golds.

1985

TEENAGE KICKS: It didn’t take long for 17-year-old Boris Becker to win the hearts of tennis fans when he took Wimbledon by storm. The dynamic, unseeded German dominated the final to beat eighth-seeded Kevin Curren and become the tournament’s youngest champion in its then 100-year history.

1952

WHEN TWO TRIBES: At a time when the rivalry between the USA and the then Soviet Union was at its peak, the Olympic battle between the two nations at Helsinki, Finland, took on a whole new intensity. A 15-year-old Barbara Jones, pictured second from left, emerged as a US heroine, becoming the youngest medallist in a track and field OIympic event, when, along with teammates Mae Faggs, Jaet Moreau and Catherine Hardy, she won gold in the 4x100m relay event.

1958

WORLD AT HIS FEET: Aged just 17, Pele guided Brazil to their first World Cup win. Against Wales in the quarter-finals, he became the youngest World Cup goal scorer, going on to hit a hat-trick in the semi-final against France and thumping home two of Brazil’s goals in their 5-2 win in the final against hosts Sweden.

1995

POTTED HISTORY: Widely regarded as the greatest snooker player of all time, Ronnie O’Sullivan was only 10 when he made his first century break. He holds the record as being the youngest player to win a professional ranking tournament – in 1993 – and became the youngest player to win a Masters event in 1995, aged 19. It’s been a long and highly successful career for the British player – the seven times World champion became the oldest winner last year, aged 47 years and 363 days.

2006

ENGLAND EXPECTS: On May 30, 2006, Arsenal’s thrilling £5m signing from Southampton, Theo Walcott, became England’s youngest-ever football player, aged 17 years and 75 days. In September 2008, the 19-year-old made his first competitive start in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra. He scored in the following match against Croatia and became the youngest player in history to score a hat-trick for England.

2010

WELSH WONDER: Rugby Union star Tom Prydie is the youngest player to have represented the Wales national team, aged 17, after becoming the youngest player in the history of the Heineken Cup the previous year.

2022

PUT TO THE TEST: Rehan Ahmed was just 18 years and 18 days when he made his international debut for England against Pakistan, becoming England men’s youngest Test debutant. On the third day of the match he also became the youngest debutant to take five wickets in an innings in men’s Tests.

1936

TAKING FLIGHT: When most teenagers are busy with school work, 13-year-old Marjorie Gerstring was also winning Olympic medals after causing a huge upset by beating fellow American Katherine Rawls in the final of the springboard event to clinch gold at the Berlin Games.