The delayed Summer Olympics in 2021 saw a wave of teenage athletes participating due to the inclusion of new child-friendly sports such as park skateboarding and sport climbing. Ten athletes aged between 12 and 18 participated in the Summer Games, and another six are due to compete in this year’s Winter Games.
With so many teenagers participating in competitive sports alongside athletes five times their age in some cases (the oldest to participate in 2020 was aged 66, while the youngest was 12) in the last two years, kids activities experts at Martinhal Family Hotels & Resorts have taken a look at the Olympic sports most popular with young athletes, so they can better inform their kids club and sports academy offering – ensuring that all potential Olympians are well looked after on their family holidays to Portugal.
| Competing Year | Name | Age at Comp | Country Representing | Sport |
| 2021 | Hend Zaza | 12 | Syria | Table Tennis |
| 2021 | Rayssa Leal | 13 | Brazil | Skateboarding |
| 2021 | Sky Brown | 13 | GB | Skateboarding |
| 2021 | Momiji Nishiya | 13 | Japan | Skateboarding |
| 2021 | Quan Hongchan | 14 | China | Diving |
| 2022 | Kamila Valieva | 15 | ROC | Figure Skating |
| 2021 | Katie Grimes | 15 | USA | Swimming |
| 2021 | Erriyon Knighton | 17 | USA | Athletics |
| 2022 | Matěj Švancer | 17 | Austria | Freestyle Skiing |
| 2022 | Matvei Michkov | 17 | ROC | Ice Hockey |
| 2021 | Evy Leibfarth | 17 | USA | Slalom Canoe |
| 2021 | Colin Duffy | 17 | USA | Sport Climbing |
| 2021 | Claire Curzan | 17 | USA | Swimming |
| 2022 | Yuma Kagiyama | 18 | Japan | Figure Skating |
| 2022 | Eileen Gu | 18 | China | Freestyle Skiing |
| 2022 | Sofia Nadyrshina | 18 | ROC | Snowboarding |
Top Sports for Teens
When looking at the sports of the teens in Summer Games and Winter Games, it is clear that skateboarding is the leading sport for athletes under 18. Three of the ten Summer Games teens participated in this extreme sport – and each won a medal at age 13, followed by two in swimming. In the Winter Games, the sports with the most teens participating are freestyle skiing and figure skating, with two teens representing each sport.
The USA has the most teenage athletes, with five under 18s representing them in 2020 at Tokyo, but none this year in Beijing. The Russian Olympic Committee has three teens representing them in 2022, while Japan and China each have one teenager representing them at each of the Games. Team GB has one athlete under the age of 18, Bronze medal winner Sky Brown, who was aged 13 when she competed in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
