Youngest world champions in any sport: Where would Luke Littler rank if he wins 2024/25 World Darts Championship?

01-03-2025
4 min read
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Luke Littler made sure he went one better and earned a place in the history books at the 2024/25 PDC World Darts Championship.

The 17-year-old has taken the darts world by storm since his incredible run to the final at Alexandra Palace last year where he came up short against World No. 1 Luke Humphries.

Since then, Littler has shown he is here to stay in the upper echelons of his sport with 10 2024 wins, including triumphs in the Premier League final and the Grand Slam of Darts.

On January 3, Littler took down the previous youngest winner of the world title as he thrashed Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in a dominant display. Here. we seek to put a generation talent in his historical context.

All-time youngest world darts champions

Littler does not turn 18 until January 21, 2015, meaning he is the youngest world champion by a considerable distance.

Van Gerwen held the record on account of winning the first of his three world title at 24 in 2014 

Player Year Age
Luke Littler 2015 17
Michael van Gerwen 2014 24
Adrian Lewis 2011 25
Rob Cross 2018 27
Michael Smith 2023 32
Phil Taylor 1995 34
Gerwyn Price 2021 35
John Part 2003 36
Dennis Priestley 1994 43
Gary Andersen 2015 44
Peter Wright 2019 49

Youngest sporting world champions ever

Littler's triumph puts him above a whole host of sporting prodigies who became world champions or major winners as teenagers.

At 17 years and 11 months, he comes up just shy of Brazilian football icon Pele, who inspired his nation to the 1958 World Cup.

The youngest ever grand slam winner in tennis, Martina Hingis, has him beaten by a year and seven months — albeit as an imperfect comparison, given tennis has four majors per year up for grabs rather than one true 'world championship'. 

Athlete Sport Age
Martina Hingis Tennis (Australian Open) 16 years 4 months
Michael Chang Tennis (French Open) 17 years 4 months
Wilfred Benitez Boxing 17 years 5 months
Pele Football 17 years 8 months
Luke Littler Darts 17 years 11 months
Darko Milicic Basketball (NBA) 18 years
Freddie Lindstrom Baseball (MLB) 18 years
Larry Hillman Hockey (NHL) 18 years
Aaqib Javed Cricket 19 years 7 months
Mike Tyson Boxing (Heavyweight) 20 years 4 months
Francois Steyn Rugby 20 years 5 months
Tiger Woods Golf (Masters) 21 years 3 months
Jamal Lewis  American Football (NFL) 21 years 5 months
Jon Jones UFC 23 years
Sebastian Vettel Formula 1 23 years 5 months