Littler +200 favorite
The 2024-25 PDC World Darts Championships start in Alexandra Palace, London in just over one week. The first dart is thrown on December 15.
It’s regarded as the biggest and best party in town for its three-week duration and its poster boy is a 17-year-old who, this time last year, was a complete unknown who spent all his spare time playing computer games in his bedroom.
preceded to win no fewer than ten tournaments
But now Luke Littler is a sporting superstar. He shocked the darting world to make it to last year’s final – losing 7-4 to Luke Humphries in the final – and then preceded to win no fewer than ten tournaments in 2024. He starts this year’s World Championship as the +200 favorite.
But, of course, Littler is by no means the first super-young talent to emerge in his respective sport. There have been many over the years, some of whom have gone on to be global superstars and some whom, after hitting the big-time at a young age, disappeared almost without trace.
We’ll start with three global superstars…
Michael Owen – English Soccer Player
Owen was one of those who peaked in his tender years. As a mature athlete he suffered a string of debilitating injuries that curtailed his career and never quite allowed him to fulfil his true potential.
But as a 17-year-old he was electric. At his young peak he was staggeringly good, and it’s easy to forget given what happened later in his career just what a brilliant soccer player he was. He was still an academy graduate when he made his Liverpool debut in 1997 but his turn of pace and quick feet made him too hot to handle for even experienced English Premier League (EPL) defenders.
he twice became EPL’s top scorer and in 2001 was the winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or
In the four seasons that followed his debut he twice became EPL’s top scorer and in 2001 was the winner of the prestigious Ballon d’Or – the trophy awarded to the best soccer player in the world. He remains the last English player to win it.
It was his exploits in an England shirt in the 1998 World Cup that brought him to superstardom. He became his country’s youngest-ever goal-scorer in a World Cup tournament when he equalized against Romania in England’s second group game.
But it is his goal against Argentina in the round of 16 for which he is best remembered – a mazy run, that demonstrated his blistering pace and left Argentine defenders in his wake before a lethal finish into the roof of the net. It remains one of the most memorable goals in English World Cup history.
Jonah Lomu – New Zealand Rugby Union Player
Lomu is, to this day, regarded as Rugby Union’s first-ever global superstar. He sadly passed in 2015, aged just 40, but at the peak of his powers, he enjoyed an illustrious career with the New Zealand All Blacks which spanned 63 matches and an incredible 37 tries.
When he made his All Blacks debut in 1994 he was just 19 years and 45 days, and was by some distance the youngest player ever to pull on the famous black jersey. Back then, teenagers were rarely offered starts in Test Match Rugby.
scored an incredible seven tries in five games
One year later, despite then having earned just two international caps, he was part of New Zealand’s squad for the 1995 World Cup. And he took the competition by storm. Lomu scored an incredible seven tries in five games en route to the final where they were eventually beaten by South Africa.
He was later blighted by injury and kidney problems but in his relatively short career, he changed Test Rugby forever with his power, speed and fearlessness. He was inducted into the International Rugby Union Hall of Fame in 2007 and will always be remembered as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
Mike Tyson – American Boxer
He became known as ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson for a reason. His top-level career consisted of 28 fights, 26 of which were won via knockout victories.
Incredibly, 16 of those KOs came in the first round of the fight. He was, by any metric, the most powerful, aggressive and, yes, scary fighter that has ever stepped into boxing. At his peak, he was comfortably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
For a top-level boxer, his journey began at a very young age. He was just 18 when he had his first pro fight and he had no less than 15 professional fights in the first year of his career.
But his was not a career that started young and fizzled. His endured. Rather than suffer from burnout as a result of starting his career so young, he prospered as a result of those early experiences and went on to become the world’s youngest-ever World Heavyweight Champion.
He was just 20 years, four months and 22 days when, in November 1986, he beat Trevor Berbick to win that first title and it set the tone for a stellar career in which he lived up to his reputation as the “baddest man on the planet.”
underwhelming event
And Tyson still fights to this day. After what seemed a sensible and long retirement, he was recently lured back into the ring to fight YouTuber Jake Paul – an underwhelming event in which the 27-year-old beat the 57-year-old Tyson on points.
Now we will take a look at those who may not have quite reached global superstar status but still hit the radar stateside when at a young age.
Julio Urias – Mexican Baseball Pitcher
The Mexican was just 19-years-old when, in May 2016, he made his MLB debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It made him the youngest starting pitcher in the MLB since Seattle Mariners’ Félix Hernández did the same more than a decade earlier.
While he only lasted just 2⅔ innings that day and gave up three earned runs, the Dodgers saw enough to suggest that they had a talent on their hands.
But his career never fulfilled its early potential. He played 158 games for the Dodgers between 2016 and 2021, averaging .190.
Kanak Jha – American Table Tennis Player
Jha was ready to compete at the very top level even before he had even graduated from high school. At just 16-years-old, he became the first American-born athlete in the 2000s to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games. He earned his place in the US team after winning the US Men’s Singles title at the 2016 US nationals, becoming in the process the youngest men’s champion since 2009.
He is now a three-time Olympian (2016, 2020, and 2024), and has been the US national champion five times, four of them coming consecutively between 2016 and 2019. He also picked up a fifth in 2024 before heading off to the Paris Olympics.
Michael Chang – American Tennis Player
Chang burst onto the world tennis scene in the most dramatic way possible. As a 17-year-old rookie, he unexpectedly won the 1989 French Open; becoming in the process the youngest male winner of a grand slam singles tournament in the history of the sport.
he had to beat Eduardo Masso, Pete Sampras, and Francisco Roig
And he had to do it the hard way. En route to a final against the legendary Ivan Lendl, he had to beat Eduardo Masso, Pete Sampras, and Francisco Roig. At the time, Lendl was ranked number one in the world and four months earlier had won the Australian Open. But Chang ripped up the record book and, despite suffering serious cramp in the final, found a way to get past Lendl in an epic four-hour battle.
Chang went on to have a stellar career without ever consistently staying among the world’s elite, although he did have a career-high ranking of world number two in 1996. He retired in 2003 after having won 34 top-level professional singles titles and earning prize money totalling $19,145,632.
Andrew Bynum – American Basketball Player
Bynum became the NBA’s youngest-ever player when, aged just 18 years and 6 days old, he lined up alongside another straight-from-high school star, the late Kobe Bryant.
His career was blighted by knee injuries and he had to miss the entire 2012-13 season
Instead of going to college, Bynum skipped and went straight from high school to the draft, where he was the Lakers’ tenth pick in 2005. But he never quite reached the heights expected of him although he did play in two championship teams and made one All-Star team while with the Lakers. His career was blighted by knee injuries and he had to miss the entire 2012-13 season. Despite numerous comeback attempts, he retired in 2018.
Kobe Bryant – American Basketball Player
As mentioned above, the legendary Kobe Bryant also made his name in the NBA as a teenager. He made his debut for the Lakers after being the first ever guard to be taken directly out of high school in the draft.
It was during his rookie season that Bryant came off the Lakers’ bench to become the youngest NBA player ever to play in an NBA game. He was just 18 years, 72 days old. It was a record that would later be broken by a teammate, Andrew Bynum.
Bryant would also go on to become the youngest-ever NBA starter at 18 years, 158 days old. He went on to global super stardom, playing for the Lakers for 20 years and retiring with five championship rings to his name.
Joey Logano – American NASCAR Driver
At just 18 years of age, Logano was smashing records by the dozen. The Connecticut native drove his way through numerous firsts and, in 2009, was the youngest driver ever to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series race – the 2009 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
He was also the youngest winner in the history of the Sprint Cup Series, and was the first NASCAR driver born in the 1990s to race in the top three divisions of the sport—the Nationwide Series, the Sprint Cup Series, and the Camping World Truck Series.
Guan Tianlang – Chinese Golfer
This young man was the very definition of a child prodigy. As a 14-year-old, Tianlang unbelievably qualified for the 2013 Masters Tournament, which made him the youngest player ever to make the cut in PGA Tour and major championship history.
he finished in 58th place on the leaderboard after posting rounds of 72 and 69
He even got to play some practice rounds with the great Tiger Woods at Augusta ahead of the Masters, where he finished in 58th place on the leaderboard after posting rounds of 72 and 69.
Connor McDavid – Canadian NHL Hockey Player
In the 2015 draft, McDavid was Edmonton Oilers’ first overall pick aged just 19 and went on to make his NHL debut that same season. The Ontarian went on to have a stellar career playing junior-level hockey and won the 2014-15 Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year.
McDavid also had to deal with an injury during that rookie season, which limited his game time to just 45 games in 2015-16 but he still finished third in the NHL’s Rookie of the Year, scoring 48 points in the process.
He still plays for the Oilers.
Michelle Wie – American Golfer
Wie was still literally a child when she became the youngest player ever to qualify for a USGA amateur championship. She was just 10!
Later, “Big Wiesy,” as she became known, would also become the youngest player to qualify for a LPGA Tour event in 2002 – the Takefuji Classic in Hawaii.
the youngest ever player to make an LPGA cut
As her fledgling career progressed, she continued to break new records, later also becoming the youngest ever player to make an LPGA cut and the youngest female player in a PGA Tour event in 2004’s Sony Open in Hawaii.
She went on to win five top level tournaments including the US Women’s Open in 2014.
Stars to look out for in 2025…
Ethan Nwaneri – English Footballer (Arsenal)
A lot is expected of Nwaneri since he became the youngest-ever player to appear in an English Premier League match when he made his debut for Arsenal in the 2022-23 season at just 15 years and 181 days old.
He now appears regularly on the Arsenal bench, has scored his first first-team goal, and looks set for a huge 2025.
Cooper Flagg – American College Basketball Player
Cooper Flagg currently plays for the Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference and is tipped to be the number one pick in the 2025 draft.
He attended Nokomis Regional High School in Newport as a freshman but then transferred to Montverde Academy, Florida to further his basketball education.
2025 promises to be a massive year for Flagg.
Zheng Haohao – Chinese Skateboarder
In a sport that produces talent at a young age, Zheng Haohao took it to another level at the 2024 Paris Olympics. To put it into some perspective, she was born on the penultimate day of the 2012 London Olympics!
She made history in Paris by participating in her event aged just 11 years and 11 months old, making Olympic history in the process.
As it transpired, she was eliminated in the preliminary rounds after scoring a modest 63.19 points, but 2025 could be a massive year for her.