Inge Sorensen
At the infamous 1939 Berlin Olympics, there was a little-known Danish swimmer called Inge Sorensen. She won a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke at the tender age of 12 years and 24 days – the youngest female medalist in Olympic history. Sorensen gets extra points for refusing to hail Adolf Hitler on the podium; she later became a symbol of the anti-Nazi movement in her native Denmark. Dubbed “Little Lovely Inge” by the Danish media, Sorensen was greeted by 30,000 fans upon her return to Copenhagen. She died in Burlington, New Jersey at the age of 86. 

Marjorie Gestring
At the same Olympics, American diver Marjorie Gestring beat out rival Katherine Rawls for the gold in the three-meter springboard event. She was 13 years old, not much older than Sorensen – to this day, still the youngest gold medalist in Olympic history. After her victory, Gestring continued to compete in US national championships, even as the 1940 Summer Olympics were canceled due to World War II. She died in 1992 and has since been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dominique Moceanu
Even before getting to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, it was a tough road for 14-year-old gymnast Dominique Moceanu. She was forced to sit out the Olympic trials due to a stress fracture, but successfully petitioned her way onto the team that would later dubbed the “Magnificent Seven." At the Olympics, Moceanu struggled on the vaults and balance beam, taking a particularly nasty fall in the latter. However, the Magnificent Seven rebounded to clinch Team USA’s first-ever gold medal in women’s gymnastics – a feat that took 16 years to repeat, thanks to this year’s spunky “Fierce Five.”

Tara Lipinski
Though Tara Lipinski’s feat didn’t take place during the Summer Olympics, she has the distinction of being the youngest individual figure skating gold medalist in Winter Olympic history. During the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, the bubbly 15-year-old from Philadelphia skated her short program to music from the animated film Anastasia, followed by a free skate program that put her ahead of teammate and defending champion Michelle Kwan. How’s that for a fairy tale story? The clincher was Lipinski’s program – the most technically challenging in Olympic history. How challenging? Try “triple loop-triple loop combination jump, another triple-triple combination, and seven triple jumps total” challenging. (We don’t even know what that means, but it’s making us dizzy just reading it.) After the Olympics, Lipinski joined the professional figure skating circuit and performed in both Stars on Ice and Champions on Ice. She’s now a commentator for NBC’s Universal Sports.

Nadia Comaneci
No list of the youngest Olympians would be complete without Nadia Comaneci. At age 14, the Romanian gymnast made history at the 1976 Montreal Olympics with the first perfect 10 ever awarded in gymnastics. Her performance was so unprecedented that the scoreboard posted a “1.00,” momentarily confusing both athlete and spectators. Comaneci went on to achieve six more perfect 10s and nab three gold medals, becoming the youngest all-around gymnastics champion in Olympic history.

It’s now legally impossible to break Comaneci’s age record since the age limit was raised to 16. What’s more, the International Gymnastics Federation changed the scoring system in 1997; there is no longer a ceiling on scores. Comaneci herself, now 50 and living in Oklahoma City with her husband and son, has called for the return of the perfect 10 system to dispel confusing gymnastics scores.

To see athletes 1-5, check out our previous post, "10 Olympic Champions Under 16, Part 1."

Photos (in order of appearance): Danish Teak Classics, The Met, Getty Images, x_ships via Flickr, Dave Gilbert via Wikimedia Commons

The life of an Olympic athlete is a grueling one. Competitors must follow strict diets and rigid training schedules, all while maintaining a single-minded focus to become the very best at their sport. Failure can be heartbreaking, as seen from South Korean fencer Shin A-Lam’s controversial defeat on Day 3 of the London Summer Olympics. It’s all the more impressive when the athlete in question must also juggle homework and exams on top of four to five-hour practices. With the London Summer Olympics now in full swing, we take a look at 10 of the youngest Olympic champions of all time. 

He Kexin
Depending on who you ask, Chinese gymnast He Kexin (pictured above) was either 14 or 16 when she competed at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Though the Chinese Olympic Committee listed her age as 16, some records suggested that she might have been under the age of eligibility. However, He and her teammates were cleared after an investigation by the International Federation of Gymnastics (IFG). She went on to win a gold medal on the uneven bars after a controversial tiebreaker with American gymnast Nastia Liukin. Stay tuned; He will be competing again this year at the London Olympics.

Ruta Meilutyte
One of the early breakout moments of this year’s Olympics was 15-year-old Lithuanian swimmer Ruta Meilutyte surging ahead of the pack to win the 100m breaststroke. This was her country’s first-ever Olympic gold, snatched from the US’ Rebecca Soni with just 0.08 seconds’ advance. Meilutyte, who moved to the UK three years ago with her father, also broke the European record in the heats – beating her personal best by two seconds. Look out for her in the swimming finals!

Barbara Pearl Jones
At age 15, Barbara Pearl Jones (later Slater) represented the US at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics in the 4 x 100m relay event with her teammates Mae Faggs, Janet Moreau, and Catherine Hardy. Faggs marshaled Team USA into taking gold despite having never worked together before, making Jones the youngest female Olympic gold medalist in track and field. She would repeat the feat at the 1960 Olympics in Rome before retiring; Jones now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Fu Mingxia
In July of 1992, a Chinese schoolgirl still shy of her fourteenth birthday shocked diving fans by capturing the gold medal in women’s platform diving. Hubei native Fu Mingxia’s closest competitor, Elena Microchina, lagged nearly 50 points behind. As The LA Times‘ Mike Penner noted, “Fu could have cannonballed her last dive and no one would have touched her.” At the ripe old age of 17, she retired to enroll at Tsinghua University, then returned to the pool to claim four more Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) before hanging up her swimsuit for good. 

Dimitrios Loundras
If you don’t count the anonymous coxswains (the guys who are in charge of steering a boat) who were at the 1900 Olympics, Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras is the youngest documented medalist and competitor in Olympic history at 10 years and 218 days. He won a bronze medal on home soil in the team parallel bars at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. According to his Wikipedia page, Loundras went on to fight in both world wars and reached the rank of admiral in the Greek navy. Way to overachieve, Dimitrios.

For athletes 6-10, check out “10 Olympic Champions Under 16, Part 2.”

Photos (in order of appearance): China Daily, Robertas Dačkus, History.com, 163.com, Bleach Report

The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park was the site of the rowing, canoeing, and 10km open-water swimming events during the 2008 Beijng Summer Olympics. Audiences roared as canoes raced neck and neck, rowboats zoomed around the track, and swimmers vied for first place. The Water Cube, also previously the site of aquatic Olympic sports, has been able to enjoy a certain amount of prosperity. But how does the Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park stack up to its bubbly brother?

Unfortunately, there really isn’t much of a comparison; while one can usually hear the sound of childish laughter emanating from the Water Cube, the only sound coming from the bubble-blasted edifice’s silent sibling is the empty echo of lost opportunity. Although various events have been held at the site, such as a celebration of the 2012 Dragon Boat Festival, it doesn’t seem that the Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park has yet found a consistent purpose. It frequently sits derelict, water drained from the once sparkling tracks.

Other attempts to enliven the area have also resulted in failure. After the end of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Shunyi District made the decision to invest RMB 300 million to build various motor sport facilities. But though the venue opened in October of 2010 and hosted a round of the 2010 Superleague Formula season, said round was a non-championship one. This was due to the track failing to gain the required FIA Grade 2 status required in order to host a championship event.

On the bright side, the area has found new life as a venue for sailing lessons. Clubs like Beijing Aofan Sailing Club have taken of the legacy of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and turned it into a selection of courses and memberships geared towards both individuals and families. Visitors can also take part in other water sports, such as kayaking.

Although the government previously planned to convert the area into a resort of some sort, such plans have apparently been dropped – at least for the time being. For now, you can still hear the sounds of merriment as kids and teens drop in for an afternoon sailing lesson.

Just in time for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, this post is part of a series called “Where Are They Now?”, which explores what became of four 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics venues: The Bird’s Nest, The Water Cube, the Beach Volleyball Ground at Chaoyang Park, and Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. This is the final installment of the series.

Photos (in order of appearance): Gerry Boudens via Wikimedia Commons and Feng

 

 

For beach volleyball enthusiasts, there are a few beach volleyball grounds available for a quick serve. For three seasons in a row, Chaoyang Park has hosted the Ocean Beach Fiesta (so named after all the glamorous sand). In summer 2010, the beach even hosted live viewings of FIFA. This year, the beach is open from June 16 to September 3. The “Olympic sand” at this beach is carefully taken care of. Workers clean the delicate sand daily after the beach closes and pick up anything that visitors leave behind. Two showers are installed on either side of the sand for “beach-goers” to wash off when needed.

Photos (in order of appearance): Sophie Zhu (1 and 2) and http://www.hbrzbj.org (3)

The Beijing National Aquatics Center (北京国家游泳中心), better known as the Water Cube, stands as a monument to the swimming competitions of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. It was in the confines of this immense bubble-covered structure that thousands of fans cheered on as Michael Phelps won eight gold medals and beat the world record for the 100m butterfly event.

But now, with the sounds of cheering long gone, what has become of “the fastest Olympic pool in the world”? Even with all its speed, has the Water Cube been able to out-swim the curse of irrelevance so frequently visited upon other former Olympic venues?

The answer, quite fortunately, is yes. The Water Cube has been in almost constant use since 2009, when it was opened to the public on certain days of the week. From ordinary swim tests to lavish weddings, The Water Cube has seen it all. Formerly filled with the graceful moments of professional swimmers, the bubble-clad behemoth has even been host to grace of a different kind: a stunning production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.  More than a few jewelers and other artists have taken the graceful curves of the foamy edifice as inspiration for a plethora of souvenirs.

The Water Cube’s stint as a performance hall didn’t last long; the frothy structure was closed to the public in October of 2009 in order ready the complex for yet another transformation. This time, a fragment of the complex would become a water park.  Reopened in early August of 2010, on the 2-year anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the redesigned facility became Happy Magic Water Cube Park.

Where Olympic athletes once gathered to discuss strategies, smaller, slightly less professional swimmers now giggle and splash as plastic bubbles and jellyfish float through the air. The park takes up 12,000sqm of the former Olympic venue and features 13 water slides and rides, not to mention the wave pool and a lazy river. In addition, 60 or so lifeguards watch over the enormous park. As if that weren’t enough, there is even a spa area for exhausted parents. The Olympic pool has been left intact for swimming matches, and other areas of the park are available for exercise and various events.

Just in time for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, this post is part of a series called “Where Are They Now?”, which explores what became of four 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics venues: The Bird’s Nest, The Water Cube, the Beach Volleyball Ground at Chaoyang Park, and Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. This is the second installment of the series.

Photos (in order of appearance): Sophie Zhu (1) and Dina Mao (2 and 3)

The Bird’s Nest hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics events, and football final of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics from August 8 to 24, 2008. This is the place where Lionel Messi led the Argentinean football team to victory in the football finals against Nigeria and Jamaican track and field superstar Usain Bolt won three gold medals and set the world record of 19.30s in the 200m sprint. The Bird’s Nest was also the venue for the Paralympics from September 6-17, 2008.

 

Photos by Sophie Zhu