China’s youngest Olympian is an 11-year-old who was born on the penultimate day of the London 2012 Olympics. Zheng Haohao competed alongside Team GB’s teenage sensation, Sky Brown, in the women’s skateboarding park event in Paris, showcasing her skills. This outstanding accomplishment demonstrates the extraordinary youthful talent that is appearing on the international scene.
Zheng, who started skateboarding at age seven, became one of the youngest Olympians in history when she left France, demonstrating her extraordinary talent and potential at such a young age.
Despite an impressive best score of 63.19, Zheng finished 18th in the preliminary round and missed the final, which was won by Australia’s 14-year-old Arisa Trew.
The children are all okay.
Three adolescents won medals in skateboarding at the 2008 Summer Olympics, demonstrating the sport’s continued vitality and energy. Athletes Sky Brown, 16, and Kokona Hiraki, 15, of Japan, in particular, stood out as they replicated their podium placings from the previous Games, demonstrating their remarkable talent and consistency.
Dora Varella of Brazil, who is 23 years old, was the most experienced competitor in the skateboarding event, proving that sport knows no age limits. In the men’s division, Team GB’s 51-year-old Andy Macdonald showed this by winning eight gold medals at the X Games before rival Zheng was even born.
However, Macdonald’s experience was nothing compared to the oldest competitor at the Paris Games, 65-year-old Juan Antonio Jimenez of Spain, who was competing in the equestrian event.
Dimitrios Loundras, who was only 10 years old when he won a bronze medal for his gymnastics team at the 1896 Olympics. is the youngest confirmed Olympic participant.
In 1900, a Dutch youngster who was presumably no older than seven or eight years old might have broken Loundras’ record by coxing a boat in Paris, but his name is still unknown.
Marjorie Gesting of the United States, on the other hand, is the youngest female gold medallist in Summer Games history.
She was only 13 when she won the gold in the 3m springboard diving event in 1936.
Olympic athletes tend to be between 20 and 30 years old. According to the Washington Post, the Tokyo Olympic participants were, on average, 27 years old. However, the competition also includes athletes barely in their teens and contenders no longer in their first youth. For example, 15-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown (pictured) will represent Great Britain at the Paris Olympics. Also in the fray are fortysomethings like the legendary US basketballer Diana Taurasi.
The Games themselves set no specific age limit. Instead, each sport’s international federation decides how old the participants should be. For example, 14 is the minimum age for divers and 16 for artistic gymnasts. However, this is not a competition that pits kids against kids; the kids may have to compete with older rivals. Japanese breakdancer Ayumi Fukushima, who is expected to qualify for Paris, will be 41 years old during the Olympics, while Australian breakdancer Jeff Dunne is only 16.
The oldest Olympian competed at 72
Even sexagenarians have competed in the Olympics. Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn won his first Olympic gold at 60 in the 1908 London Games. He is the oldest Olympian ever, having competed at the Antwerp Olympics in 1920 at 72.
Conversely, the Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loudras is the youngest Olympian ever. He was only ten years old when he competed in the 1896 Olympics in Athens, the first modern Olympic Games.
Here is a list of young and old athletes to watch at the Paris Games this year. The list includes their age, nationality, and sport.
Eight-time World Cup skateboarding champion Andy Macdonald will make his Olympic debut as the oldest skateboarder in the competition. Fifty years old, he will represent Great Britain along with two teenagers: Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Sky Brown, 15, and world champion Lola Tambling, 16.
Recalling skateboarding was not an Olympic event when he took up the sport, Macdonald said, “But here I am, qualifying at the age of 50, and it feels pretty surreal. Age really is just a number.”
California-based American-born Macdonald can represent Britain because he has a British father.
He was inspired to try for the Olympics after watching skateboarding’s Olympic debut in the 2020 Tokyo Games. He found a berth on the British team through a qualifier in Budapest, Hungary.
Record haul of X Games medals for vert skateboarding
Macdonald, who became a professional skateboarder in 1994, holds the record for the most X Games medals in vert skateboarding.
However, his mastery of the vert ramp will not give him an edge in the Olympics, where he will compete in park, a faster-moving discipline using a three-dimensional bowl.
“A vert ramp is 14 feet high and the deepest bowls in park skating in the Olympic Park series are nine feet high. So it’s like taking everything I know from vert skating and trying to apply it to like, a much smaller, quicker, genre and that is like learning to do it all over again,” he said.
“I always knew it was going to be a long shot,” he said. I’m 50 years old skating against 14-year-olds, so I knew it was going to be hard.”
But older folks cheered him on when he announced on social media he would compete in the Olympics.
“When I announced, ‘Hey, I qualified,’ the 50+ crew was just like, ‘Yeah, representative for the old guys, go get ’em. Until the wheels fall off’,” he said with a grin. “And that’s great. If I can motivate people to stay out there doing what they love to do into their 50s and 60s … we’re still learning how long we can ride a skateboard for, and who’s to say? I’ve had a skateboarding career that’s lasted decades longer than I ever thought it would. And making it to the Olympic Games, getting to take my wife and kids to Paris, is just awesome.”
He has two daughters, aged 8 and 14, and an 18-year-old son. A typical day for him includes taking his children, helping them with their homework and after-school activities, as well as skateboarding practice for the Olympics. “From the get-go, it was always like, ‘Can you do this? Can you be an Olympic athlete and still be the dad, the important stuff?’ The most important thing’s raising my kids,” he said. “I’ve been able to do both. For me that’s the biggest accomplishment.”
Margielyn Didal, the 24-year old Filipino skateboarder, claimed her maiden gold at the Asian Games in 2018 with 30.4 points, beating Japan’s Kaya Isa with 25.0 points and Indonesia’s Bunga Nyimas with 19.8 points. Didal was one of five Filipino athletes to win gold that year, alongside Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan, Lois Kaye Go, and Hidilyn Diaz.
Five years after her historic victory, Didal returned to compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games, where her aim was not to defend her title but to “regain her confidence and comfort with her board,”, according to ABS-CBN news.
Didal’s injury
In 2022, she suffered a serious ankle injury while competing in the Red Bull Sake Levels, resulting in surgery and a lengthy period of recuperation. According to Didal, the injury has since healed completely; however, she is still experiencing tightness in her ankle due to the metal plates that were placed there.
And this uneasiness became apparent at the Asian Games.
She struggled in the competition, and this became evident on her third trick, where she fell hard. Didal scored 23.39 points on her first run and then 12.84 in her second run to finish last among eight runners.
Didal later apologized to her fellow Cebuanos on Facebook for not clinching a medal at the event.
“Sorry Cebu, I didn’t get a medal, so we won’t have a skatepark.” Didal’s apology is a reference to the fact that the Cebu city officials promised to build a skatepark after she won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2018, but nothing has been built yet. Now that Didal has failed to medal at the Hangzhou games, this promise seems even more far-fetched.
Meanwhile, the youngest competitor at the event rose through the ranks and landed on top of the leaderboard with her best two runs and two tricks, obtaining a total score of 242.62 points. Cui Chenxi, who’s only 13 years old, became the Asian Games’ youngest gold medalist.
“I did quite well today,” Chenxi said.
Chenxi began her professional skateboarding journey only three years ago, and gaining expertise in such a short period of time and at such a young age means that we’ll see more of Chenxi’s astonishing skateboarding performances in the future.
In second place is Chenxi’s fellow compatriot, Zeng Wenhui, who got 236.61 points.
Olympic debutante 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen, became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal when she defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in a thrilling final in Paris on Saturday (August 3).
She won’t be the last Chinese Olympic tennis champion, asserted China’s Xinhua News Agency in a burst of patriotic pride.
Praising the young tennis player, Xinhua said: “At 21, the gold could perhaps be the first of many medals for her at the Olympics, or it could be her last. However, one thing is for sure: the gold, and the inspiration that it will provide to young girls and boys back in her homeland, won’t be the last for China.”
Zheng’s victory completed a memorable week for China after Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen claimed the silver medal in the mixed doubles in tennis on Friday.
Though a new face in the Summer Games, Zheng had already proved her mettle. She was a finalist in the 2024 Australian Open, where she lost to the defending Aryna Sabalenka.
In the Paris Olympic final, she seemed the stronger contender. Zheng is the world No 7, her opponent Donna Vekic, 28, is No. 21.
Zheng also caused the biggest upset in the tournament beating the favourite and world No 1 Iga Swiatek In the semi-finals.
Moreover, she had the crowd behind her. A large Chinese contingent inside Roland Garros’s Court Philippe Chatrier cheered her on.
Vekic also had a good run. She advanced to the semi-finals at Wimbledon before competing in the Paris Olympics, where she defeated the US Open champion Coco Gauff.
Zheng, however, got the better of Vekic, defeating her in straight sets with the same powerful serves and groundstrokes she used to eliminate Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals.
Serving for the match at 5-3, Zheng reached match points as Vekic drove a backhand wide. Zheng finished the match with a well-placed forehand winner before falling to her back with joy.
Poland’s Swiatek finished with the bronze medal after beating Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1 on Friday. She snapped a selfie with Zheng and Vekic during the medal ceremony.
“To win a medal for Croatia was a lifelong dream,” the 28-year-old said. “I wanted gold but still so happy and so proud. She was better than me today and deserved it.”
China’s only other Olympic gold medal in tennis came in 2004 when Li Ting and Sun Tian-Tian won the women’s doubles in Athens.
Zheng’s aspirations
Zheng said she wanted to be a role model. “I always want to become one of the Asians that can inspire young kids and make them love tennis more, because tennis is such a great sport, especially for girls. You need to fight. You need to have strength. You need to be fast,” said Zheng, who signed several autographs for members of the crowd after the match. “After this gold medal, I feel, finally, I can play tennis more relaxed.”
She still has to match her idol, though. Zheng looks up to Li Na, the only Chinese player to win Grand Slam singles titles — at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open .
“I have always been jealous of history-makers like Li Na,” Zheng said. “No matter what, she’s always the first, because she’s the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam. And I now become the first Asian player to win Olympic gold. I made history, as well. However, I still have a long way to go, because winning a Grand Slam is always my dream.”
She also spoke about her parents, who introduced her to tennis when she was seven years old. Her mother left her her job when she was 12 to make sure she ate and slept properly. Her father always pushed her hard, making her practise even on the Chinese New Year, when “everybody rests. But me? There’s no day of rest.”
“My success is not only my success. A lot of that is coming from my parents,” Zheng said. “They teach me how to be disciplined. They teach me how to stay focused on your dream. They always believed in me.”
“This Olympic journey has not been easy,” she said. “But there is a strength holding me. I never give up.”
Zheng said, “I felt like I represented all of Chinese tennis, knowing the Chinese people were cheering for me. Winning the gold made all the hard work and struggles worthwhile,” reported Xinhua.
Chinese gymnast serves meals at a neighborhood restaurant just days after winning silver at the Olympics
Many up-and-coming talents were showcased during the Paris Olympics 2024, with Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin emerging as one of the most remarkable.
Zhou, who was only eighteen, won a silver medal in the balancing beam competition, and her happy moment was captured on camera as she playfully bit into her medal on the podium. Her win won her hearts across the globe.
Fans recently got a sweet peek into Zhou’s life away from the mat when pictures of her quietly assisting her parents at their restaurant went viral. These photos showed Zhou’s humble demeanor despite her sudden rise to fame.
Zhou Yaqin, who placed second in the balance beam competition in Paris 2024 after Italian gymnasts Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito, captivated hearts when she made a lighthearted effort to eat her medal, mimicking her rivals and producing a heartwarming and viral video.
Zhou has since gone viral once more, although it’s not related to the Olympics this time. She was spotted serving food at her family’s neighbourhood eatery in her home town of Hengyang, Hunan province, China, in a touching demonstration of humility. This charming moment, which highlights Zhou’s genuine personality, has captured social media attention again.
Zhou Yaqin: Who is she?
Zhou Yaqin began her gymnastics career at the age of eighteen, and already she has amassed an incredible collection of medals. Zhou started her adventure at the young age of three, demonstrating her devotion and skill from an early age. She specializes in the balance beam.
Zhou’s incredible gymnastics career has been nothing short of extraordinary. She continued to excel at the senior level, capturing gold at the World Championships and the National Games of China after taking home the solo gold in the balance beam at the 2020 Chinese Championships.
Her greatest moment came in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where she qualified first, beating off the illustrious Simone Biles, and took home a silver medal (14.366), just shy of gold winner D’Amato’s score of 14.366. Remarkably, Zhou surpassed Biles once more, finishing sixth in the championship match. This was a pivotal point in her career.
