List of child sportspeople

Last updated March 17, 2024

Children who are or have been notable in sport.

Fu Mingxia (伏明霞) is a diver^[1]^[2] became one of the youngest world champions ever in any sport at age 12,^[3] and was an Olympic gold medalist at the age of 13 years.
Jet Li (Chinese name: Li Lianjie (李连杰)) is a Chinese martial artist, who has won several gold medals in wushu at the All China Games at the age of 12.^[4]
Sachin Tendulkar – Batsman (cricket). Made his international debut at the age of 16 and subsequently represented India for 24 years. Played over 600 international matches, scoring 100 international centuries, and was the first batsman to reach 200 runs in a One Day International.
Michelle Wie qualified for the USGA Women's Amateur Public Links (golf) at the age of 10 years and won the same event at the age of 13 years, making her the youngest person both to qualify for and win a USGA adult national championship.^[5]
Wayne Gretzky was skating with 10-year-olds at the age of 6 years. By the age of 10 years, he scored 378 goals and 139 assists, in just 85 games, with the Nadrofsky Steelers.^[6]
Tiger Woods was a child prodigy, introduced to golf before the age of 2, by his athletic father Earl. In 1984 at the age of 8, he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships. He first broke 80 at age 8. He went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991.^{[ citation needed ]}
Nadia Comăneci won 3 gold medals at the 1976 Olympics and was the first female to achieve a perfect score of 10 in gymnastics at the age of 14.
Ricky Rubio started his basketball career with DKV Joventut at the age of 14, becoming the youngest player to ever play in the Spanish ACB League, and played in the 2008 Summer Olympics at the age of 17 with eventual silver-medalists Spain, becoming the youngest ever to reach an Olympic basketball final.
Guan Tianlang won the 2012 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in golf shortly after his 14th birthday.^[7] The following April, while still 14, he made the cut at the 2013 Masters Tournament, becoming the youngest male player ever to do so at a major championship.^[8]
Yulia Lipnitskaya won the gold medal in the team figure skating event at the 2014 Winter Olympics at the age of 15. She also won the 2014 European Championships, becoming the youngest skater in ladies' singles in history to win that title.
Lydia Ko, who went on to become a multiple major golf champion and world#1 player while still a teenager, first competed in the New Zealand national women's amateur championship for adults in March 2005, shortly before her eighth birthday. The tournament field also featured a 10-year-old, an 11-year-old, and three 13-year-olds. Four years later, shortly after turning 12, Ko lost in the final of the same event to a 14-year-old.^[9]
Ashima Shiraishi climbed a boulder problem Crown of Aragorn, graded V13, at age of 10, becoming the youngest person (male or female) to climb this grade. At 14, she climbed Horizon, the first female to climb a boulder problem graded V15.
Max Verstappen was a child racing prodigy who started racing karts at the age of 4. At the age of 9, he won the Belgian championship. Started Karting internationally at the age of 13 and in 2013 -at the age of 15- won the championship in Karting Highest category, Kz1. After moving through lower levels of formula racing, he ended up being picked up by Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2014 and started driving for the team in the 2015 season. His 2015 Australian GP start at the age of 17 years and 166 days saw him recognized with the record for the youngest driver to start F1, also managing to become the youngest F1 driver to score World Championship points at 17 years 180 days.
Armand Duplantis was a huge Pole vault prodigy since early age, starting at age 4 in his backyard, and still holding all (unofficial) world records for pole vault at age seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve years.^[10]
Alina Zagitova won the gold medal in the ladies figure skating singles at the 2018 Winter Olympics at the age of 15. She is also the youngest female skater to achieve the Super Slam, after Yuna Kim.
Alexandra Trusova landed the first quad toeloop, quad flip and quad lutz in womens figure skating. She landed her first quad internationally at age 13. By the age of 7, she had all her triples, and at 12, she jumped quads.
Sky Brown is a British-Japanese skateborder and surfer. At age 13, she won the bronze at the 2020 Summer Olympics

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Irene Karlijn (Ireen) Wüst is a Dutch former long track speed skater of German ancestry. Wüst became the most successful speed skating Olympian ever by achieving at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearances. Wüst is also the only athlete to win an individual gold medal in five consecutive Olympics, Summer or Winter.

Matteo Manassero is an Italian professional golfer who currently plays on the European Tour. He is also the youngest golfer to win a European Tour event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yulia Lipnitskaya</span> Russian retired competitive figure skater

Yulia Vyacheslavovna Lipnitskaya is a Russian retired competitive figure skater. She was part of the Russian team that won the 2014 Winter Olympics team trophy. Individually, Lipnitskaya is the 2014 World silver medalist, the 2014 European champion, the 2013–14 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, and a two-time Russian national silver medalist. As a junior, Lipnitskaya won the 2012 World Junior Championships, 2011–12 JGP Final, and 2012 Russian Junior Championships. She retired from the sport in 2017 due to injuries and anorexia nervosa.

Lydia Ko is a South Korea professional golfer. She first reached number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings on 2 February 2015 at 17 years, 9 months and 9 days of age, making her the youngest player, either male or female, to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf.

The 2013 Masters Tournament was the 77th edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of golf's four major championships to be held in 2013. It was held from April 11–14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Adam Scott won the tournament on the second hole of a sudden death playoff against Ángel Cabrera. It was Scott's first major championship and the first time an Australian won the Masters.

Guan Tianlang is a Chinese amateur golfer.

Jessica Smith is an American long track speed skater and short track speed skater and former World Champion inline speed skater. As a young girl, Smith was involved in a variety of activities including ballet, modeling, roller skating, and ice hockey. She eventually settled on roller skating and made the United States' Junior World Inline Championships Team at age 12. She won 15 gold medals at the junior level before moving up the senior level at age 16. By 2007, Smith had collected 16 senior World Championships gold medals.

Lucy Li is an American professional golfer. She currently holds records as the youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Amateur and the U.S. Women's Open. She is the second-youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, and the youngest ever to advance to match play in that event. Li was an age group winner at the inaugural Masters Drive, Chip, and Putt Championship in Augusta, Georgia. As of 2014, she is a student of Jim McLean.

You Young is a South Korean figure skater. She is the 2020 Four Continents silver medalist, a four-time Grand Prix bronze medalist, a four-time Challenger series medalist, and a five-time South Korean national champion

Alexandra "Sasha" Vyacheslavovna Trusova is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2022 Olympic silver medalist, the 2021 World bronze medalist, a European silver (2022) and bronze (2020) medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, the 2021 U.S. Classic champion, and the 2021 Skate America champion. Domestically, she is the 2022 Russian national champion, the 2019 silver medalist, and the 2020 and 2021 bronze medalist. At the junior level, she is a two-time Junior World Champion, the 2018 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a four-time champion on the Junior Grand Prix series, and a two-time Russian Junior national champion.

Alysa Liu is an American competitive figure skater. She is the 2022 World bronze medalist, the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champion, the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy champion, and a two-time U.S. national champion. At age 16, she competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics, placing seventh. At the junior level, Liu is the 2020 World Junior bronze medalist, the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a two-time Junior Grand Prix champion, and the 2018 U.S. junior national champion.

Anna Stanislavovna Shcherbakova is a Russian figure skater. She is the reigning Olympic champion (2022), a World champion (2021), a European Champion (2022), and a three-time Russian national champion (2019–2021). She was the first woman figure skater to land a quad Lutz in senior competition and the first woman to land two quad Lutz jumps in a single program. She was also the first woman figure skater to land a quad flip in combination with a triple jump, as well as the first to land two quad flip jumps in a single program. She is the first Olympic champion in women’s single skating with quad jumps. The quad Lutz and quad flip are among the three most difficult jumps in figure skating, only behind the quad axel. Additionally, she never finished below second place in her senior career.

Brighton Zeuner is an American professional skateboarder.

Sky Brown is a British-Japanese professional skateboarder and surfer who competes for Great Britain. She is the youngest professional skateboarder in the world, and has also won the American TV programme Dancing with the Stars: Juniors. She represented Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal in the park event, making her the country's youngest ever medallist. She won the park event at the 2023 World Skateboarding Championship.

Guan Chenchen is a Chinese former artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic champion and the 2020 Chinese champion on the balance beam. On the junior level, she was a member of the Chinese team who won silver at the 2019 Junior World Championships.

Karin Ingrid Andrea Lindblad is a Swedish amateur golfer. She won the 2021 European Ladies Amateur. In 2022, she set the amateur 18-hole scoring record at the U.S. Women's Open posting a six-under 65 and was part of the Swedish team winning the World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy. She rose to number 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in August 2020, and ascended to number 1 in June 2023.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 U.S. Women's Open</span> Golf tournament

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Allisen Corpuz is an American professional golfer and member of the LPGA Tour. She won the 2023 U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach.

References

↑ "SI.com - Chinese face stiff diving challenge in Athens - Wednesday August 4, 2004 9:20PM". 3 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.
↑ Time Magazine https://web.archive.org/web/20150724165039/http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,997894,00.html
↑ "We take a look at six of the best young sporting champions". Redbull.com. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
↑ "The Official Jet Li Website". Jetli.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
↑ Brent Kelley. "Michelle Wie Timeline". About.com Sports. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
↑ Wayne Gretzky#note-Young
↑ Harig, Bob (November 4, 2012). "Guan Tianlang, 14, headed to Masters". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
↑ "Tianlang Guan youngest to make cut". ESPN.com. April 12, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
↑ Leggat, David (24 November 2014). "The Vault: First mention – Lydia Ko". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
↑ Lindblad, Anders (10 February 2020). ""Mondo" kan nå 6,30 – nu stor OS-favorit | Anders Lindblad". Svenska Dagbladet.

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[1] "SI.com - Chinese face stiff diving challenge in Athens - Wednesday August 4, 2004 9:20PM". 3 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012.

[2] Time Magazine https://web.archive.org/web/20150724165039/http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,997894,00.html

[3] "We take a look at six of the best young sporting champions". Redbull.com. Retrieved 2013-09-17.

[4] "The Official Jet Li Website". Jetli.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013.

[5] Brent Kelley. "Michelle Wie Timeline". About.com Sports. Retrieved 18 December 2015.

[6] Wayne Gretzky#note-Young

[7] Harig, Bob (November 4, 2012). "Guan Tianlang, 14, headed to Masters". ESPN. Retrieved November 4, 2012.

[8] "Tianlang Guan youngest to make cut". ESPN.com. April 12, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2013.

[9] Leggat, David (24 November 2014). "The Vault: First mention – Lydia Ko". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 June 2016.

[10] Lindblad, Anders (10 February 2020). ""Mondo" kan nå 6,30 – nu stor OS-favorit | Anders Lindblad". Svenska Dagbladet.

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