The Olympics are a pure celebration of athleticism and a chance for all countries to bond over our shared love of competition. Sometimes, young prodigies stun the world by winning gold medals despite not even being old enough to drive a car. Here are the fifteen youngest gold medalists of all time!
Coco Yoshizawa
At the age of 14 years and 309 days old, Coco Yoshizawa won the gold medal in skateboarding at the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 28. She started training at age 7 and took the Paris Olympics by storm, nailing advanced tricks like the big spin flip frontside boardslide that won her the event.
Nadia Comaneci
Nadia Comaneci, a Romanian gymnast, won her first gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She was only 14 years, 249 days old at the time. Interestingly enough, she was also the first gymnast to receive a perfect score of all tens, confounding the scoreboard in Montreal, which wasn’t programmed to show the unheard-of score. Instead, it showed “1.00”.
Krisztina Egerszegi
At the age of 14 years, 41 days old, Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi won a gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke during the 1988 Olympic games. She didn’t stop there, either. She returned the games two more times at age 18 and 22, winning a total of five gold medals.
Kyoko Iwasaki
Japanese swimmer Kyoko Iwasaki competed in the 1992 Olympic games at the age of 14 years, 6 days old. She snagged the gold in the 200-meter breaststroke, making her the youngest swimmer to ever bag a gold medal. For her own part, Iwasaki has claimed that she was as lucky as she was talented, and that her “peak” coincided with the exact timing of the 1992 Olympics. There’s no luck involved at such heights of competition, though, and her performance remains impressive.
Fu Mingxia
China is famously excellent in the sport of diving, and you need look no further than Team China’s exemplary performance at the Olympics to discover that. In 1992, diver Fu Mingxia secured a gold medal in diving at the age of 13 years, 345 days old!
Momji Nishiya
Japanese skateboarder Momji Nishiya made history during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics when she secured a gold medal in women’s street skateboarding at the age of 13 years, 330 days old. She became the youngest Japanese person to ever score a gold medal and became very emotional upon hearing the news that she won the event.
Klaus Zerta
The youngest male Olympian to ever win a gold medal is Klaus Zerta, who was just 13 years, 283 days old at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He scored the gold medal in the rowing event, where he was a boat’s coxswain—basically the person who helps steer the boat! Rowing teams prefer to use youngsters as coxswains because they weigh less than adults, helping the boat move faster.
Marjorie Gestring
At the age of 13 years, 267 days old, Marjorie Gestring is the youngest American to ever win a gold medal. She won the gold in springboard diving during the 1936 Berlin Games, but was unable to compete in 1940 and 1944 due to the Games being canceled during the Second World War. She tried to qualify for the 1948 Games but didn’t make Team USA.
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Kim Yun-mi
South Korean speed skater Kim Yun-mi is the youngest person to ever win a gold medal. During the 1994 Winter Olympics, when she was just 13 years and 86 days old, she beat out the competition to bring home the gold. Given that the new minimum age for Olympic speed skating is 15, it’s unlikely her record will ever be beaten.
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Unknown Coxswain
In the 1900 Olympics, an unusual event took place: a pair of Dutch rowers, François Brandt and Roelof Klein, asked a local kid to coxswain their boat. They realized by watching their French opponents that using children as coxswains helped reduce the weight of the boat, and their gambit paid off. The trio won the gold, so this unidentified 8-, 9-, or 10-year-old boy of unknown background is most likely the youngest Olympic gold medalist in history.
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