Luke Littler
Not many believed 16-year-old Luke Littler had a chance of progressing far in the 2023 PDC Darts World Championship. With only four senior matches at PDC premier events under his belt and positioned 164th in the world rankings, Littler was priced at +6600 to win the competition before it began.
Despite all of his naysayers, Littler has led an unbelievable campaign, demolishing Rob Cross in the semi-final of the competition on Tuesday night to advance to the final. The youngster will play Luke Humphries for the title on Wednesday night.
Cross won his respective semi-final 6-0 and is favorite going into the final at -147 to Littler’s +117. However, regardless of the end result, Littler may join the ranks of sports’ teenage sensations if he can prove that this campaign wasn’t just a fluke.
But who else is in this club? We have listed five stars that turned from teen prodigies into world beaters.
Pelé
Our first entry needs little introduction, especially for soccer fans. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known more commonly as Pelé, rose to national fame in 1957 when he made his international debut for Brazil at the age of just 16. He became famous around the world just one year later when he played and won his first FIFA World Cup.
a hat trick in the semi-final against France and a brace in the final against Sweden
Although Brazilian manager Vincente Feola was hesitant to play such a young prospect, Pelé showed his skill in the very first game, in which he got himself an assist. The Brazilian youngster went on to score a hat trick in the semi-final against France and a brace in the final against Sweden, which Brazil won 5-2.
Pelé proved that he certainly wasn’t a one hit wonder too. Despite having to sit out the 1962 World Cup and bowing out early in 1966, the star led Brazil to its third title in 1970.
He continued to perform at club level also, building worldwide notoriety for Santos. In 1969, Pelé scored his 1000th goal, ultimately ending his career in 1977 with the most goals of any player – 1,279 goals in 1,362 matches, according to Guinness World Records. It’s a record that still stands today.
Ronnie O’Sullivan
After winning the 2023 UK Championship, UK-born snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan now holds the record for the tournament’s youngest and oldest winner. His latest came at the age of 47, while his first came when he was just a bit older than Littler at 17.
O’Sullivan has secured the record for the most competitive maximum breaks in history
In fact, O’Sullivan achieved a great deal before he even left his teens. He made his first competitive century break at the age of just 10, and then his first competitive maximum break (147) at 15. Since then, O’Sullivan has secured the record for the most competitive maximum breaks in history, hitting 15 in 2018.
He also holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest competitive 147 in history:
As for his titles, The Rocket now has a record seven world titles, a record seven Masters titles, and a record eight UK Championship titles. That gives him a total of 22 Triple Crown titles, which is (you guessed it) another record. After his UK Championship win at 17, O’Sullivan also became the youngest to win the Masters at 19.
O’Sullivan is also known for his distinctive personality, which saw VSO News rank him among snooker’s rock star personalities.
Venus and Serena Williams
The film King Richard, for which Will Smith won an Oscar for Best Actor in 2022, shows the lengths that Serena and Venus Williams went to in order to become two of the greatest tennis players of all time. Given their shared dedication to the sport and success, it seems appropriate that the sisters should share a space on our list.
Let’s start with the older sister. Venus made her professional debut at the age of just 14 at a qualifying event at the Bank of the West Classic. She quickly proved her ability, winning that match and going on to the next round. She would ultimately lose to Sanchez Vicario but not before almost going two sets ahead of the world number two.
bagged her first major singles title at the 1999 US Open at just 17
Despite Venus’ quick start, it was actually Serena who would secure the sisters’ first Grand Slam singles title. Serena had a shaky start to professional life, also turning pro at the age of 14 but not securing her first win until two years later. She quickly turned up the heat though and bagged her first major singles title at the 1999 US Open at just 17.
Since then, the sisters have racked up a combined 30 Grand Slam singles titles – the most of which have gone to Serena (23). In fact, Serena has won the most titles of anyone in the Open era. She has also reached 33 Grand Slam singles finals, one behind the record held by Chris Evert. The sisters’ last title came in 2017 when Serena won the Australian Open.
Both women led the way for women in the sport of tennis and are undoubtedly two of the best to ever do it.
Max Verstappen
Dutchman Max Verstappen will forever hold the record for the youngest ever Formula 1 driver thanks to a change to the rules following his debut in 2015. Although all F1 drivers must now have a minimum age of 18, Verstappen debuted in Australia at the age of 17 years and 5 months for Torro Rosso.
Having earned countless titles in the world of karting as a child, it took just one year for Verstappen to prove his worth in F1 too. He earned himself a transfer to the much more competitive Red Bull in 2016. There, he secured his first victory straight out of the blocks on his debut at the Spanish Grand Prix. He became the youngest driver ever to win a race in the process, at 18 years and 227 days – a record that stands today.
defeated Lewi Hamilton in an enthralling Abu Dhabi race to secure his first world championship
Verstappen sealed himself plenty more wins in the following years, cementing his position as a certain future world champion given the right car. He finished fifth in the championship in 2016, sixth in 2017, fourth in 2018, and then third in 2019, and 2020. His time finally came in 2021 when he defeated Lewi Hamilton in an enthralling Abu Dhabi race to secure his first world championship at 24:
Far from slowing down, Verstappen continues to prove that he is among the best to ever don an F1 helmet. He became a champion for the third time at 26 years of age last year after a totally dominant season, including a record ten consecutive Grand Prix victories and more than 400 points.
Nadia Com?neci
Our final teen sensation earned worldwide fame at the youngest age yet. When she was two years younger than Littler at 14, Romanian gymnast Nadia Com?neci won three gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. In the process, she also became the first gymnast to earn a perfect score of 10.0 – a feat she would achieve six more times at that very Olympics:
Com?neci went on to win two more gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Moscow four years later, achieving two more perfect 10s along the way. By the end of her career, the gymnastics legend had won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.
Not only did Com?neci earn worldwide acclaim for herself, she also brought unprecedented global popularity to her sport in the mid-1970s, especially for young girls. As a result, the Laureus World Sports Academy named her as one of the Athletes of the 20th Century, a list compiling the most influential sports people of the period.