Luke Littler wins World Darts Championship aged 17 – but which other teenagers have lit up world sport? | News about darts
After Luke Littler became the youngest darts world champion at the age of 17, we look back at some of the most successful teenage stars in the world of sport.
Boris Becker (tennis)
Like Littler, Becker won arguably the most prestigious event in his sport at the age of 17, triumphing at Wimbledon in 1985 as he became the youngest men’s singles champion at the All England Club.
The German successfully defended his title a year later and won it again in 1989, before ending his career with six Grand Slam titles after winning the Australian Open in 1991 and 1996 and the US Open in 1989.
Becker also became world No. 1 in 1991.
Sky Brown (skateboard)
Skateboarder Sky Brown won two Olympic bronze medals for Great Britain as a teenager
Brown became Great Britain’s youngest Olympian and medal winner when she took bronze in women’s park skateboarding at the postponed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Despite falling on her first two attempts, she made the third for a podium place at just 13 years and 28 days old. He then took another Olympic bronze in Paris in 2024 at the age of 16.
Brown also won at the X Games and the park at the 2023 World Skateboarding Championships to become the first British skateboarding world champion.
Tom Daley (diving)
Daley started diving at the age of seven and began competing nationally and internationally at the age of nine. He was Team GB’s youngest Olympic medalist at the 2008 Beijing Games, aged 14, but failed to secure a medal in the 10m or synchro events.
That year he won gold at the British and European championships – and secured gold at the world championships the following year.
Tom Daley was GB’s youngest Olympic medalist at the Beijing Games in 2008 when he was just 14
He was a so-called ‘poster boy’ for the London 2012 Games, winning bronze in the 10m, but it wasn’t until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that he finally achieved his career goal of winning an Olympic gold with partner Matty. Leeward.
Katie Ledecky (swimming)
By the end of Ledecky’s teenage years, she had five Olympic golds and nine world titles to her name.
Having started swimming at the age of six, she made her international debut at the London 2012 Olympics aged 15 when she stunned spectators and coaches by winning gold in the women’s 800m freestyle.
He won four golds, two silvers and secured two world records when he competed at Rio 2016 four years later.
Ledecky, who is still just 27, took her Olympic medal tally to 14 when she took four at the 2024 Paris Games.
Swimmer Katie Ledecky burst onto the scene at the 2012 London Olympics at the age of 15
Wilfred Benitez (boxing)
Wilfred ‘El Radar’ Benitez became the youngest world champion in boxing history when he beat Antonio Cervantes at just 17 years old in March 1976.
He turned professional at 15 and was managed by his father, Gregorio Benitez. He and his brothers Frankie and Gregory were from one of Puerto Rico’s prominent boxing families, who forged their success through New York.
His victory in 1976 saw him claim both the light welterweight and lineal light welterweight titles.
First (football)
Pele won the World Cup with Brazil at the age of 17 in 1958
After a record-breaking career, Pele was regarded as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.
At the age of 15, his coach told club managers in his hometown of São Paulo that he would become the “greatest footballer in the world”. A year later he was the top scorer in Brazil’s national league, leading to a call-up from the national team.
Aged 17 in 1958, he inspired his country to victory in the World Cup with a hat-trick in the semi-final and two goals in the final.
Wayne Gretzky (ice hockey)
Gretzky debuted for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1979/80 season and became the first teenager to score 50 goals in a season. The Great One scored the most points in NHL history with 2,857 to date.
He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in a season, a feat he accomplished four times.
Ronnie O’Sullivan (snooker)
O’Sullivan turned professional at the age of 16 in 1992, having won a match in just 43 minutes in his first season.
A year later he became the youngest winner of the UK Snooker Championship at the age of 17, and also secured a Masters title at the age of 19.
Ronnie O’Sullivan has starred in snooker as a teenager and into his forties
The Rocket has since become the oldest winner of each of the sport’s Triple Crown events, winning the World Championship at 46, the UK Championship at 47 and the Masters at 48.
Characterized by his aggressive style and emotional outbursts, O’Sullivan is considered one of the greatest snooker players of all time and now holds a record 41 ranking titles, including seven World Championship wins at The Crucible.
That longevity is something Littler will certainly aspire to.
Sachin Tendulkar (cricket)
Tendulkar was encouraged to take up cricket at the age of 11 as a way out of trouble at school.
Now regarded as one of the best batsmen the sport has seen, he broke records as the youngest player to debut for India in both Test and one-day international cricket at the age of 16.
He remains the leading run-scorer in Test and ODI cricket.
Towards the end of his teenage years, he made history when he was selected to play for Yorkshire. The famous club had never selected a player from outside the county – let alone England.
Michael Phelps (swimming)
Swimmer Phelps won six Olympic gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games as a 19-year-old – in the 100 and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley as well as two relays.
The American added another eight golds in Beijing in 2008 and another four in London in 2012, while winning 22 Olympic medals in total as well as 26 at the World Championships.
2025-01-03 23:30:00
