Prodigies of sport: Littler's predecessors

Exceptional talents in sport - Prodigies of sport: Littler's predecessors

Luke Littler has been described as a darts prodigy. But will he shape his sport in the same way as athletes of the century such as Steffi Graf or Wayne Gretzky? Here are some exceptional figures in the world of sport:

Boris Becker

In 1985, Becker triggered tennis hype in Germany when, at just 17 years and 227 days old, he became the youngest player in history and the first German to win the traditional tournament at Wimbledon. Becker becomes a German sports star. He wins five more Grand Slam titles, including two more in his "living room" Wimbledon. He also wins Olympic gold in doubles with Michael Stich in 1992. In total, he wins 49 singles tournaments and 15 doubles titles. He led the world rankings for twelve weeks.

Steffi Graf

Graf is regarded as the talent of the century and a child prodigy. In 1982, at the age of 13, she won the German junior championship for 18-year-olds. At the age of thirteen years and four months, she was registered as a professional player with the WTA. On June 6, 1987, she won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open and rose to superstardom in the years to come. With 22 Grand Slam tournaments won and 377 weeks at the top of the world rankings, she is one of the most successful tennis players ever. In 1988, she won all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games and is the only tennis player to date to win the Golden Slam. Graf won a total of 107 tournaments.

Franziska van Almsick

The Berlin native conquered the swimming world at the age of just 14 when she won silver in the 200-meter freestyle in Barcelona in 1992, the first of a total of ten Olympic medals (four silver, six bronze). She became the first all-German sports star after reunification. In the 1993 season, she won six European Championship gold medals and was voted World Sportswoman of the Year. At the 19994 World Championships in Rome, she missed out on the final in the 200-metre freestyle, finishing ninth in the semi-finals. Her qualified team colleague Dagmar Hase then did not compete - van Almsick started for her and became world champion with a world record. She was not crowned Olympic champion, but with a total of 37 medals at major events, she is one of the best in her sport.

Darja Varfolomeev

The rhythmic gymnast (17) wrote German sporting history at the World Championships last August. She celebrated a historic quintuple success: after winning gold four times in the apparatus finals, the exceptional athlete also won the all-around competition at the age of 16. This made her the first German all-around world champion since Carla Rischer in 1975. The Russian-born athlete, who came to Germany at the age of twelve, has already won six world championship gold medals, four world championship silver medals and one world championship bronze medal.

Max Verstappen

At the age of 17 years and 166 days, the Dutchman drove in a Grand Prix for the first time, making him the youngest driver in Formula 1 history. He did not yet have a driver's license. He was 18 years and 228 days old when he took his first victory in the premier class in 2016 and has since become the youngest GP winner in history. The three-time world champion has 54 race wins to date. He is also the youngest F1 driver in the points, the youngest driver with a fastest lap, the youngest with a Grand Slam of pole position, fastest lap and race win. He also took the most race wins in a row (10), the most podiums in a season (21), the most championship points in a season (575) and the most race wins in a season (19).

Jennifer Capriati

The American first took part in a WTA tennis tournament at the age of 13 and became a professional tennis player. A short time later, she reached the final of the Hilton Head tournament against Martina Navratilova - although she lost, at 13 years and 11 months she was the youngest player ever to reach a professional tennis final. In 1992, she wins gold at the Olympic Games in Barcelona against Steffi Graf. Capriati won a total of three Grand Slam titles and became number one in the world rankings. Later, she had problems and nothing worked out for her. In 2012, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Wayne Gretzky

Many consider "The Great One" to be the best ice hockey player of all time. The Canadian held a total of 61 NHL records when he retired in 1999. During his career in the National Hockey League, he scored 894 goals and 2857 scoring points in 1487 regular-season games - a record that still stands today. He won the Stanley Cup four times with the Edmonton Oilers. After his career ended, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the same year - there is usually a waiting period of three years. In addition, since February 2000, he is the only player in NHL history whose back number (99) is blocked league-wide and can therefore no longer be issued to any NHL player.

Michael Phelps

The US American is the most successful swimmer in the world with 23 Olympic gold medals and 26 world championship titles. With 28 medals, he is also by far the most successful Olympian. He took part in the Olympic Games for the first time in 2000 at the age of 15 and was the youngest male swimmer in the US team in Sydney for 68 years. He was still without a medal at the time, but just five months later he swam his first of countless world records in the 200 meter butterfly. At the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Phelps won his first world title in the 200 meter butterfly at the age of 16 years and 24 days - with a new world record.

Ian Thorpe

The Australian with shoe size 52 becomes the first double world champion in swimming at the age of 15. "Thorpedo" wins a total of eleven world championship titles and five Olympic victories, sets 13 world records - making him the most successful swimmer in history in his home country. The swimming icon later admits to struggling with depression and alcohol addiction in his autobiography, published in 2012.