Child prodigies in the world of sports

At the tender age of 14, "Franzi" wowed the crowds at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, winning four silver medals. However, the media weren't always kind to van Almsick, particularly when results weren't going her way. While she won two world championships and was European champion 18 times, her dream of Olympic gold never came to fruition.

Boris Becker won the men's title at Wimbledon at just 17 years and 227 days old. He remains the youngest male to have won at Wimbledon. Becker would go on to win five more Grand Slam titles and became Olympic doubles champion in Barcelona in 1992. Since hanging up his racquet, the headlines he has made have often been negative, including divorces a bankruptcy, and even a prison sentence.

Here, the future women's No. 1 is seen competing in the German Championships (for adults) at the age of eleven. At 13, Steffi Graf turned pro, playing on the WTA Tour. In 1987, at the age of 17, she won the French open – the first of her 22 Grand Slam titles. In 1988, Graf achieved the historic "Golden Slam," winning all four Grand Slam titles and an Olympic singles gold medal.

In 1978, at the age of 17, Gretzky made his pro debut for the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association, a rebel league in its final season. Gretzky made his NHL debut for the Edmonton Oilers in the following season. He remains the NHL's all-time scorer with 894 goals and 1,963 assists for a total of 2,857 points (regular season). He won numerous personal awards and four Stanley Cups.

Like Wayne Gretzky in Canada, James (right) was famous in the United States as a teenager. Some of the future superstar's high school games were shown on national television. In 2003, James went straight from school to the NBA. He became a four-time NBA champion, collected numerous personal awards and in 2023 he became the league's all-time leading scorer.

Making his debut at the World Championship in "Ally Pally" in North London, Littler surprised both the experts and himself. The 16-year-old displayed nerves of steel as he took down one opponent after another. "It's going to take a lot to stop me, based on my performances so far," he said after advancing to the final. However, Luke Humphries was too much for him, winning the final 7-4.

10.0 – the maximum score was awarded to the then 14-year-old after her routine on the uneven bars at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal – making her the first gymnast ever to achieve a perfect score. The Romanian won three gold medals in Montreal and two more in Moscow in 1980. She then ended her gymnastics career at just 19.

Ian Thorpe became world champion for the first time at the age of 15 in 1988. He followed this up with 10 more world championships and five Olympic gold medals. However, the Australian repeatedly struggled with depression and alcohol addiction. He hid his homosexuality for years before coming out in 2014 – two years after he retired from swimming.

Expectations were high when the Dutchman competed in his first Formula 1 race in 2015. At 17 years and 166 days old, Verstappen, who still didn't have a driver's license, became the youngest driver in F1 history. Although his first race, in Melbourne, ended with engine damage after 34 laps, Verstappen later became the youngest Grand Prix winner in Formula 1 history and a three-time world champion.

It was clear from an early age that the Swedish-American pole vaulter was destined for great heights: Duplantis set his first world best at the age of seven, and six years later he held seven age-group world records. As an adult, he became an Olympic, world and European champion. At 6.22 meters and 6.23 meters, he holds the indoor and outdoor world records.