Teen Spirit taking over the Olympics — WE ARE GIRLS IN SPORT

Teens are taking over Tokyo and even though many of them are not old enough to drive, they are old enough to dominate at the Olympics this year.

Of the many unprecedented developments surrounding the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the rise of teenage Olympians has been one of the most welcome, inspiring surprises. Particularly for us here at We are Girls in Sport. One-year, there is no question that the pandemic-induced delay has affected the athletes in Tokyo in a number of ways. Coaches nationwide shredded training plans and athletes needed to retain a winning mindset the entire time; even at times when it wasn’t even confirmed the games would be going ahead. We can only imagine what a hard time that must have been. Athletes have been confronted with worry and anxiety as they watched their Olympic dreams be placed on pause.

For older or more experienced athletes, the extra year created an unexpected pressure to maintain their skills. However, on the flip side, despite all the changes of lockdowns and closed training gyms, the delay has allowed more teenagers to train for longer and create a new generation looking to make Olympic history. Looking at the US Olympic Team for an example, they took ten teenager girls to Tokyo which is more than in Rio and London combined. Of the twenty six American women who’ will compete at the Tokyo Aquatics Center this month, twenty are first-time Olympians. Wow. The Tokyo Olympics is shaping up to be child’s play for many young competitors and quite frankly, here at We are Girls in Sport - we love it!

What sports can teenagers compete in at the Olympics?

Olympic qualification requirements range greatly depending on the sport. There is no formal minimum age for the Olympics, but individual sports do have eligibility requirements.

Street skateboarding — making its Olympic debut in Tokyo — has no minimum age requirement

Swimming - has no minimum age requirement. Swimmers must qualify based on their race times.

Table Tennis - has no minimum age requirement

Other sports that typically draw younger athletes, like gymnastics, have a minimum age requirement of 16 years old

The Age of the Games

Ranging in age from as young as 13 to 18, these athletes have shocked and impressed fans in their skills and athletic talent so far. Just a few days into the Olympic games and teens have already been achieving Olympic medal greatness in sports such as swimming, skateboarding and gymnastics.

Skateboarding

On 26th July 2021, the inaugural women’s street event produced its youngest podium for an individual event in Games history. The average age was fourteen years, 191 days, a big win for the early adolescent stage. Japanese skateboarder Momiji Nishiya came out on top with all three medallists in their teens. On winning her Olympic medal she said, “I’m so happy to win the Olympics in Japan,” Nishiya said. “I want to be the famous one who everyone in the world knows. I want to win at Paris 2024, too.” Brazilian silver medallist Rayssa Leal is also thirteen, while bronze medallist Funa Nakayama, also from Japan is sixteen years old.

Leal, at 13 years just missed has become the youngest summer Games champion. She is still the youngest athlete to win a medal since 1936. And don’t forget Sky Brown, the youngest member of the British team. She recently turned 13 as she shared some of her birthday photos on her ever popular Instagram grid. At Tokyo, Sky will be making her Olympic debut for Team GB and will be the youngest Olympian to represent her country for the Summer Olympics. Alongside Sky Brown, Bombette Martin just turned 15 and will also be representing Team GB. Born in New York City, Bombette grew up in Birmingham and like Sky, she is thrilled to be appearing at the Tokyo Olympics.

In Table Tennis, Syrian Hend Zaza shows her Fighting Spirit

Tokyo's youngest athlete Hend Zaza hopes to inspire other children to "follow their dreams." Despite not winning an Olympic medal this time around, Hend Zaza showed incredible skill, determination and a growth mindset for success! Hend has already shown a huge amount of resilience just to even get to the games. Her childhood had been marred by war in her country, which she said she had to overcome. Her training was interrupted by civil war but even so, she qualified for the women’s table tennis tournament last year when she was eleven. A phenomenal achievement in itself. She said, as reported in The Guardian newspaper after her Olympic match; "my message to everyone who wishes to have the same situation: Fight for your dreams," she added. "Try hard, regardless of the difficulties that you're having, and you will reach your goal."

Twinning is Winning

A magic number of seven sets of twins are competing together at the Tokyo Olympics including Laura and Charlotte Tremble of France who will compete in synchronised swimming alongside Dina and Arina Averina of Russia, competing in rhythmic gymnastics. Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova of the women’s British Gymnastics team were overjoyed to take home silver medals this week. Aged just 16, the sisters were born in Dublin, Ireland to parents from Azerbaijan. The GB Team stars both started gymnastics at six years old and are now two of the best gymnasts in Britain. Proof that twinning really is winning!

Young Women Making History

This week, US teen swimmer Lydia Jacoby won a gold medal in the women’s 100-metre breaststroke final at the Tokyo Olympics, leading to her family members and friends breaking into celebration at her hometown in Seward, Alaska. Lydia, aged seventeen, became the first American woman to secure a gold in swimming at the Tokyo Olympics with her stellar performance and we can’t wait to see what she does next!

Anastasija Zolotic, U.S.

Earlier this week, the 18 year-old made history when she won the gold medal, a first for the U.S., in women’s Taekwondo when she defeated Russia’s Tatiana Minina 25-17 to claim the featherweight division title. Anastasija will now famously be known as the gold Olympian who lets out a primal scream as she pulls on her helmet before each round. Perhaps a way to unleash her inner lion to success!

The Florida native has been telling friends and family since early childhood that she would be an Olympic champion, and she needed only one trip to the Games to make it happen. As told to The Guardian, she said, “My eight-year-old self was running around the school yard saying I was going to be Olympic champion, but she could never have imagined what this moment is like,” Zolotic said. “It’s unbelievable. It really hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Ariarne Titmus, Australia

A new queen of the pool has been crowned and she has already claimed Olympic gold in the pool. At just twenty years old, Ariane took the women’s swimming crown from American Katie Ledecky on 28th July. Tears of joy flowed as she stood on the top step of the podium for the second time at these Games already. She is already showing herself to be such a such swimmer at a young age, we are certain there is much more to come.

Maggie MacNeil, Canada

Not quite a teenager anymore but a great story to share none the less! Twenty-one-year-old Maggie MacNeil won Canada’s first gold of the Games in the women’s 100-metre butterfly. Maggie’s reaction to winning gold was shared widely by sporting fans online, as she wears glasses but doesn’t put in contacts for the pool, it took minutes for her to read the results from the board. She said to sports journalists, “I was trying to squint and see where I came. I heard my name called so I knew I must have done something good.” Maggie’s silver and gold now join the three medals she secured at the 2019 World Championships.

It is fair to say that teenagers and young athletes have already shown us some outstanding sporting moments of the Olympics so far. They have been stunning the world with Olympic medal wins and using their power as girls and women to demonstrate what is possible. And they are not in Tokyo by accident. They’re here to win medals. To show other teenage girls what is possible and compete to the highest level.

We can’t wait to see more to come and that’s not even the end! The 2020 Summer Paralympics will begin on Tuesday, 24 August with lots more female talent to watch! It’s a summer of girl power like nothing else we’ve seen!

Follow all the Olympic action online wherever you are in the world and if you have a great story for us to share, please drop us a line at hello@wearegirlsinsport.com