timeThe rise of 16-year-old Luke Littler at the PDC Darts World Championship in London will become one of the sporting stories of the year. He may have become the favorite to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in December. As a teenage sports star, he surrounded himself with distinguished people.
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In 1958, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, scored in every knockout match to help Brazil win in Sweden Won the first Men’s World Cup. The then 17-year-old Pele went on to become a standout player of his era and a cornerstone of the Brazilian team. He also lifted the trophy in 1962 and 1970. His joyful and fearless attitude during the game, coupled with his delightful off-field personality, saw him jointly named FIFA Player of the Century in 2000 with Argentinian star Diego Maradona players.
Nadia Comaneci
Romanian athlete Nadia Comeneci made her stunning debut at the Montreal Olympics at the age of 14 with perfect scores of 10 on the uneven bars and balance beam, and has since become a household name. It was the first time anyone had achieved this, and organizers in 1976 couldn’t even display her score correctly – a feat so incredible that it didn’t reach double digits on the scoreboard. Komenich won three individual gold medals, an individual bronze medal and a team silver medal in his first Olympics, and added two more gold medals in 1980 in Moscow.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson’s personality away from the ring and subsequent rape conviction made him a completely different sporting figure than many of the heroes on this list, but there’s no doubt that as a young boxer he was had an impact on the sport. In November 1986, less than two years after his first professional boxing match, Tyson was crowned the WBC World Heavyweight Champion at the age of 20 years and four months, becoming the youngest person ever to win a boxing title. people.
Tiger Woods
Like Tyson, Tyson Woods didn’t reach the pinnacle of his sport as a teenager, but he was well on his way. In 1996, he turned professional at the age of 20. At the end of April the following year, he became the youngest person to win the Masters, just surpassing Jordan Spieth, who also won in 1993 at the age of 21. won the championship.
Abhimanyu Mishra
No discussion of darts would be complete unless someone chimed in with “But is it a sport?” The same goes for chess, which has its share of younger stars than Littler. Bobby Fischer won his first U.S. Open Chess Championship at age 14, and in 2021 Abhimanyu Mishra became the all-time winner at 12 years and four months The youngest chess grandmaster ever.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Snooker is also a sport that requires brains and accuracy to dominate, and Ronnie O’Sullivan has been at the top of the sport for decades, breaking the maximum break of 147 for the first time at the 1991 British Amateur Championship. , when he was only 15 years old. The candle was burned at both ends and when he won the 2023 British Championship aged 47 years and 363 days – his eighth title – he set a new record and became the oldest ever champion.
Boris Becker and Martina Hingis
Between 1976 and 1984, only Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. In 1985, Boris Becker not only upended the established order but became the first unseeded player and the youngest player to win the title, at just 17 years old.
Ten years later, it was Martina Hingis’ turn to wow the tennis world. In 1996, aged 15 years and 9 months, she won the doubles title at Wimbledon with Helena Suková, making her the youngest ever Grand Slam champion. , the following year she became the youngest female player ever to be ranked number one in the world.
Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney
England’s men’s football team benefited from two teenage goal prodigies in quick succession, with Michael Owen becoming a star in the 1998 World Cup final with a sensational solo goal to help England beat Argentina. , and Wayne, who is of similar age, has also risen rapidly. Rooney became England’s most potent goal threat in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004. However, this adoration is a far cry from their careers today, with Owen primarily known for his somewhat lukewarm attitude towards football pundits and lack of interest in football. Rooney was sacked this week and is recovering from injury after a disastrous period as Birmingham City manager.
Emma Ruddthey listen
Another potential cautionary tale for Littler is that of Emma Laducanu. The 18-year-old British tennis player achieved a stunning breakthrough victory at the 2021 US Open, becoming the first qualifier, male or female, to win a Grand Slam singles title. He has performed well in other competitions, however, and has been plagued by injuries and loud criticism from the likes of Piers Morgan since then. After an eight-month absence, Raducanu is now preparing for the Australian Open.
Katie Ledecky
Perhaps the career trajectory Littler would rather pursue than Radhakanu or Rooney is Katie Ledecky. At the age of 15, she shocked the world by winning the 800-meter freestyle gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, narrowly missing the world record. Ledecky went on to win six Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championship gold medals. No female swimmer has won more. Littler is expected to dominate a sport that can remain at the top level well into his 50s, and he may end up winning more world titles than any other athlete in history.
