Luke Littler wins World Darts Championship at age of 17 - but which other teenagers have lit up world sport?
New world darts champion Luke Littler, 17, is the latest in a long list of teenagers to light up world sport, after Pele, Sky Brown, Katie Ledecky, Wayne Gretzky and Ronnie O'Sullivan; watch Littler in Premier League Darts, live every Thursday on Sky Sports from February until end of May
Last Updated: 04/01/25 2:47am
After Luke Littler became the youngest world champion in darts history at the age of 17, we look back at some of the most successful teenage stars across the world of sport.
Match Stats
| Littler | Van Gerwen | |
|---|---|---|
| 102.73 | Average | 100.69 |
| 52 | 100+ | 44 |
| 23 | 140+ | 44 |
| 12 | 180s | 13 |
| 130 | Highest out | 132 |
| 2 | 100+ finishes | 1 |
| 56% | Double success | 37% |
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.
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The German successfully defended his title a year later and then won it again in 1989, before ending his career with six Grand Slam titles after success at the Australian Open in 1991 and 1996 and US Open in 1989.
Becker also became world No 1 in 1991.
Sky Brown (skateboarding)
Brown became Great Britain's youngest Olympian and medal winner when she took bronze in the women's park skateboarding event at the postponed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Despite falling on her first two attempts, she made the third for a spot on the podium at the age of just 13 years and 28 days. She then took another Olympic bronze in Paris in 2024 at the age of 16.
Brown has also won at the X Games and the park event at the 2023 World Skateboarding Championship to become the first-ever British skateboarding world champion.
Tom Daley (diving)
Daley began diving aged seven and started competing nationally and internationally aged nine. He was Team GB's youngest Olympian at the Beijing Games in 2008, 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.
He was a so-called 'poster boy' for the London 2012 Games, winning bronze in the 10m event but t wasn't until the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo that he finally achieved his career goal of winning an Olympic gold with his partner Matty Lee.
Katie Ledecky (swimming)
By the end of Ledecky's teens, she had five Olympic golds and nine world championship titles to her name.
Having started swimming aged six, she made her international debut at the London 2012 Olympics at 15 when she surprised spectators and coaches by winning gold in the women's 800m freestyle.
She won four golds, two silvers, and secured two world records when she competed at Rio 2016 four years later.
Ledecky, who is still only 27, upped her tally of Olympic medals to 14 when she picked up four at the 2024 Paris Games.
Wilfred Benitez (boxing)
Wilfred 'El Radar' Benitez became the youngest world champion in boxing history when he beat Antonio Cervantes at just 17 in March 1976.
He turned pro 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, forging their success via New York City.
His 1976 win saw him claim both the light welterweight and lineal light welterweight titles.
Pele (football)
After a record-breaking career, Pele was regarded as one of the greatest sportsmen of the 20th century.
At the age of 15, his coach told club directors in his native Sao Paolo he would become the "greatest football player 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.
At 17 in 1958, he inspired his country's World Cup win 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' went on to score the most points in NHL history, with his tally of 2,857 standing to this day.
He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he achieved 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 during his debut season.
A year later he became the youngest winner of the UK Snooker Championship at the age of 17 while he also secured a Masters title aged 19.
The Rocket has since become the oldest winner of each of the sport's Triple Crown events, winning the World Championship at 46, UK Championship at 47 and Masters at 48,
Characterised by his attacking style and emotional outbursts, O'Sullivan is regarded as one of the greatest snooker players of all time and now has a record 41 ranking titles, including seven World Championship wins at The Crucible.
That longevity is something Littler will surely aspire to.
Sachin Tendulkar (cricket)
Tendulkar was encouraged to take up cricket at 11 as a means of getting out of trouble at school.
Now regarded as one of the greatest batters the sport has seen, he broke records for being the youngest player to debut for India in both Test and one-day international cricket at 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 prestigious club side had never chosen a player from outside the county before - let alone England.
Michael Phelps (swimming)
Swimmer Phelps won six Olympic gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games as a 19-year-old - the 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m medley as well as two relays.
The American went on to add eight more golds in Beijing in 2008 and another four at London 2012, while he scooped 22 Olympic medals overall as well as 26 in World Championships.
