The most notable teenage sensations in sport history

In the world of elite-level sports, it is extremely rare to find a teenager who comes in and becomes the top player instantly

However, over the years, some teenagers have set professional sports alight from the jump, becoming world champions or competing against players who have years more experience.

Here are the most notable teenage sensations in the history of sport!

Brazilian legend and footballing icon Pele burst on to the scene as a 17-year-old in 1958 as he helped Brazil win their first World Cup.

The young Brazilian teenager was the standout player at that World Cup, scoring a goal in each knockout round and two in the final as they beat Sweden 5-2. He became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final, aged 17 years and 249 days.

Romania's Nadia Comăneci became a household name in gymnastics at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal aged 14.

The Romanian gymnast became the first to score a perfect ten on the uneven bars and the balance beam. She finished her first Olympics with three individual gold medals, an individual bronze, and a team silver.

Boris Becker is notably known as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. However, as a 17-year-old at Wimbledon in 1985, Becker was known to very few people.

Becker became the youngest player to win a Grand Slam title and the first unseeded player to complete the feat. Becker defeated Kevin Curren, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.

After finishing with the Premier League Golden Boot aged 17 in his first season for Liverpool, Michael Owen made his name in the footballing world at the 1998 World Cup.

Owen became England's youngest appearance maker and England's youngest scorer (18 years, 190 days). Despite that, Owen made his name for his goal against Argentina in the knockout rounds, dribbling past the defenders from the halfway line and firing past Carlos Roa.

Another story similar to Luke Littler's is tennis star Emma Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021 in her first Grand Slam event aged 18.

The British tennis player became the first qualifier, man or woman, to win a Grand Slam singles title at the first chance she got. Since then, she has been plagued by injuries and struggled. She is preparing for the Australian Open after eight months out.

Swimmer Katie Ledecky stunned the world at the 2012 London Olympics, having won the 800-meter freestyle swimming gold medal aged 15 and narrowly missing a world record.

After London 2012, Ledecky went on to win another six Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championship gold medals. Luke Littler will be hoping to have similar success in darts.

In a sport dominated by older players, 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler stole the show of the Darts World Championships in 2023, becoming the youngest player to win a game at the world championships before remarkably reaching the final on his debut.

Unbelievably, the teenage sensation has dealt with the hype of becoming world-famous and defeated three-time world champion Michael Van Gerwen in the Bahrain Masters final in the tournament following his legendary run.