Skateboarder Zheng Haohao is 11. She is also one of the youngest competitors at the Paris Olympics. That may be an impressively tender age to be an elite athlete, but Zheng isn’t unique in her youth: she’s one of a clutch of formidable young Olympians at this year’s games.
There’s also Team USA’s Hezly Rivera, who made her debut in gymnastics at the Paris Olympics, having just turned 16. Then, there are the teens competing in their second Olympic Games. Team GB’s Sky Brown made her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games, aged 13 – and won a bronze medal. Brown won another bronze in Paris despite carrying an injury. She’d just turned 16. Paris 2024 was also the second Olympics for 18-year-old Team USA swimmer Katie Grimes, who debuted at Tokyo aged just 15.
The youngest known Olympic athlete is ten-year-old gymnastic bronze medal winner Dimitrios Loundras, who competed in the 1896 games at Athens. As you can guess, then, there is no age limit for competitors in the Olympic Games – unless a specific International Sports Federation wishes to introduce one. This means that as long as young athletes show they’re good enough, they can compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games against the world’s best.
Competing in the Olympics might be considered the pinnacle of any athletic career, but there may be a dark side for young sportspeople peaking so early on the world stage. A report released by the International Olympic Committee on youth athletic development stated that sports with high early participation rates, such as gymnastics, had the highest burden of injury.
While the report considered the effect of psychological overload from stress on young Olympians, it didn’t acknowledge the potentially destructive psychological impact of committing fully to an identity of being “an athlete” from a very young age.
Too much, too young
In the general population, identity development tends to continue into adulthood. However, child athletes invest large amounts of time, resources and energy into their sport – while sacrificing other important developmental experiences along the way.
They’re also at risk of committing prematurely to their athletic identity – or even foreclosing their identity – so they may not explore or nurture other parts of themselves and overlook any planning and investment in their future selves.
The Developmental Model of Sport Participation (DMSP) outlines the typical career trajectory of an athlete, including the requirements to achieve international success. This model is one of the most widely cited conceptualizations of athletic development in sports research. The DMSP states that there are three stages of athlete development: the sampling years (ages six to 12); the specializing years (ages 13 to 15); and the investment years (ages 16 plus). So, during their early teens, athletes begin to focus on one sport and go on to fully invest in it as they reach late teens, eventually achieving peak performance in adulthood.
Source: https://studyfinds.org/olympic-success-mental-health/?nab=0