This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s summer editorial intern Emma Zumbo. Find her on Instagram at @emmarzumbo. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
There comes a point in everyone’s life when you start being older than the people you see on TV. One day, you’re looking up to athletes and famous artists, aspiring to be just like them when you grow up, and the next, you realize that you’re now well past the age at which they accomplished their various admirable feats and you perhaps feel a twinge of self-loathing. Kidding, kidding – after all, we can’t all be Olympic champions or rockstars, and rather than be disappointed in ourselves when we see someone younger than us achieving incredible things, we should be impressed by their talents and give them their due flowers. In that spirit, here is a list of the youngest athletes in Olympics’ history.
Youngest Athlete At The Paris 2024 Olympics: Zheng Haohao
Born on August 11, 2012, skateboarder Zheng Haohao of China takes the title of youngest athlete at this year’s Summer Games. Just shy of turning 12, Zheng is also China’s youngest ever Olympic athlete. You can catch Zheng in the women’s park skate competition on August 6th, where she will face off against competitors that are also quite young. In fact, at the Tokyo 2021 Games, which was the first year that skateboarding was added as a sport, the average age of the women’s medalists was just over 14 years old. Safe to say that these girls are the coolest kids on the block.
Youngest Olympian Ever: Dimitrios Loundras
At just 10 years and 216 days old, Dimitrios Loundras competed for Greece in the first revitalized Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 and in so doing became the youngest person ever to participate in the Olympics. Part of Greece’s artistic gymnastics team, Dimitrios took part in the parallel bars competition and finished in third place, taking home the Bronze medal for the host country. Not bad for someone who had just entered the double digits.
Youngest Olympic Gold Medalist: Marjorie Gestring
The 1936 Berlin Olympic Games were already historic enough on their own, but adding to their eventfulness is the fact that they were witness to the crowning of the youngest ever Summer Olympics gold medalist. At 13 years and 267 days old, American Marjorie Gestring dove to glory when she placed first in the women’s springboard diving competition, edging out her older countrywoman, Katherine Rawls, for the title. Marjorie’s record has stood for 88 years and 20 Summer Games editions which is a testament to just how incredible it is to win Olympic gold while still squarely in your tweens.
Youngest Olympic Team: Italy 1928
In 1928, Italy sent a team with an average age of 14 to Amsterdam to represent the nation in the women’s artistic gymnastics competition. The youngest member of the team, Luigina Giavotti, was just 11 years old – even for a sport that is notorious for its young athletes, the 1928 Italian team stands out both for its age and for the fact that the youngsters managed to take home the silver medal for their country. Funnily enough, the Italian women’s gymnastics team won their first medal since 1928 just this past week, earning silver yet again after a 96 year hiatus.
So, where were you when you were 11 years old??? Kidding again. I was personally probably watching reruns of Hannah Montana and certainly nowhere near achieving my Olympic goals. Then again, it’s never too late to live out your dreams: the oldest Olympian at this year’s Games is 65-year-old equestrian, Juan Antonio Jimenez Cobo of Spain, and the oldest Olympian to ever compete was Oscar Swahn at a whopping 72 years-old (he also made his Olympic debut at 60 years old). Brb, starting my training now…
But seriously, props to all athletes of any age that manage to make it all the way to the Olympics and congrats on being amazing and showing us that the magic of the Games truly transcends generations.
How many of these young athletes did you already know about? Let us know in the comments below!
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