The 10 Youngest Athletes To Ever Compete At The Olympics Will Make You Feel Bad About What You’ve Achieved In Life

It’s hard not to be in awe of virtually every athlete who manages to punch their ticket to the Olympics, an international competition that has an impressive ability to make you feel bad about yourself as you watch the events unfold from your couch.

However, there’s no harsher reality check than tuning into an event featuring someone who hasn’t even graduated from high school.

There’s no minimum age requirement to compete at the Olympics (although some sports, including gymnastics and wrestling, have set thresholds in the interest of the safety of their athletes).

As a result, there are plenty of people who’ve managed to earn a spot in one of the biggest sporting events on the planet at a time when most of us are dealing with the trials and tribulations of puberty—or even sooner.

Here are some of the most notable examples.

Dimitrios Loundras

The youngest athlete in the history of the Olympics also holds one of the oldest records—and one that may never be topped—thanks to their participation in the inaugural games in Athens all the way back in 1896.

Dimitrios Loundras was just 10 years and 218 days old when he competed as a gymnast for Greece in the parallel bars competition. While his team finished in last place, there were only three squads competing, which meant he secured the bronze that also makes him the youngest medal winner in the history of the Olympics.

Carlos Front

The primary job of the coxswain on a rowing team is steering the boat while dictating the pace of the strokes, but the nature of the sport means they also want to minimize the amount of weight they’re adding to the boat.

As a result, Spain’s eight-man team took a somewhat unconventional approach to that role at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 by tapping a 4’11”, 103-pound fifth-grader named Carlos Front to serve as the coxswain at the age of 11 years and 251 days.

It’s worth noting it’s believed France employed a similar strategy by having a boy who was possibly as young as seven perform the same role in 1900, but no one has ever been able to verify that claim.

Luigina Giavotti

Prior to 1997, there was no minimum age for gymnasts who wanted to compete in the Olympics. However, the international federation that oversees the sport opted to set the threshold at 16 years old that year in order to protect the health of younger athletes.

As a result, no gymnast will ever break the record Luigina Giavotti set when she competed for Italy in the Olympics in Amsterdam in 1928 while winning a silver medal in the team competition at the age of  11 years and 302 days.

Zheng Haohao

Skateboarding made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and there aren’t many sports that will make you feel old quite like the new addition that features a ton of young competitors.

However, none of them have been younger than Zheng Haohao of China, who kicked off her time in Paris around a week before her 12th birthday.

Hend Zaza

Playing ping-pong in a dingy basement for hours on end is a time-honored adolescent tradition, but Hend Zaza of Syria found herself in a slightly more glamorous locale after qualifying for the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.

She wasn’t able to advance past the qualifying round, but she was still the youngest athlete to make the trip to Japan at the age of 12 years and 204 days.

William Horton Jr.

17 countries participated in the “Dragon” race that unfolded at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, with each team fielding three athletes tasked with navigating the model of the single-mast sailboat named after the mythical creature.

The United States (which finished in 11th place) was led by helmsman William Horton Sr., who was assisted by Joyce Horton and his son William Horton Jr, who was just 13 years and 56 days old when he teamed up with his dad at the Olympics.

Kim Yun-Mi

This is the only entry on this list to feature the Winter Olympics, but Kim Yun-Mi of South Korea certainly earned a spot.

In 1994, Kim headed to Lillehammer to compete in the 3,000m short-track speed skating relay event and secured a place in history when she became the youngest athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympics by landing on the top of the podium with her teammates at the age of 13 years and 85 days old.

Niki Stajkovic

Niki Stajkovic represented Austria in diving at the Olympics five different times between 1972 and 1992 (he didn’t make the trip to Los Angeles in 1984).

Part of the reason he was able to compete that many times is because he got off to a very early start, as the Salzburg native was 13 years and 186 days old when he headed north to Munich to make his Olympic debut in 1972.

Marjorie Gestring

Before I continue, I have to give some credit where credit is due to Dorothy Poynton-Hill, the American who was 13 years and 23 days old when she won a silver as a diver in the 3m springboard event at the Olympics in 1928.

In 1936, America swept that event in Berlin when Poyton-Hill won the bronze,  Katherine Rawls secured the silver, and Marjorie Gestring took home the gold medal at the age of 13 years and 268 days.

She remains the youngest person to ever win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics and held the Olympic record for close to 60 years before Kim’s aforementioned victory in speed skating.

 

Klaus Zerta

Last but not least, we have Klaus Zerta, who competed for Germany in the 1960 Olympics in Rome as the man at the helm in the boat for the men’s coxed pair event.

While the decision to tap a young boy as a coxswain didn’t work out for Spain when they tried it with Carlos Front, the same can’t be said for the Germans, as Bernhard Knubel and Heinz Renneberg took first place while Klaus became the youngest male to win a gold medal at the Olympics at the age of 13 years and 283 days (a claim he can still stake to this day).