Source :- THE AGE NEWS
When 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli won his second successive Grand Prix in Japan last Sunday and became the youngest driver to lead the F1 World Championship, he was asked how he found his day’s work.
“It was a lot of fun,” Antonelli said. His apparent calmness didn’treflect the race. The Italian had been under pressure in Japan, falling to sixth place on the first lap, before British driver Oliver Bearman crashed heavily, gifting Antonelli a timely pit stop and ultimately helping him win the race.
Jonah Oliver is a leading sports psychologist who has worked with golfer Cameron Smith and Olympic gold medallist pole vaulter Nina Kennedy. Given Antonelli’s ability to perform at the highest level under pressure at such a young age, is that an area where teenage elite athletes have an advantage over the average person?
“Young talented athletes aren’t neurologically different from the average human, so they still worry, they’re still quick to anger, they’re still perfectionists, they still have high standards, therefore they have high emotions,” Oliver said.
“What do they do differently than, say, the average person is that they’re able to maintain their skill in the presence of those emotions, and this is a very important distinction. They look calm and confident, but rather they’re composed and consistent…
“They still feel those same emotions, but they seem to be less impacted in terms of their behaviours. They can still hit that golf putt, they can still drive the racing car, they can still perform at the Olympics, even though they’re feeling those same intense emotions.”
Sports psychologist Jacqui Louder has worked closely with some of Australia’s best sporting talents, including NRL superstar Reece Walsh, and has seen many examples of young athletes confronted with a new, often unwanted pressure.
“When someone comes on the scene as a young gun, first, you get a period of grace, where everyone just loves you, and they think everything you do is amazing, and you’re fresh-faced, everyone’s kind to you,” Louder said.
“But once you’ve now been in for a bit, all the gloves come off, and then teams start putting more expectations.
“It’s like, well, you’ve been doing this now for a bit, we expect results now. The media start criticising where they used to praise and then with the athlete, then we see what can happen.”
Antonelli is not alone when it comes to teen sporting stars on the world stage. He is among a rich crop of young athletes already making themselves known on the world stage despite their relative youth.
Kimi Antonelli, 19: Formula 1
Antonelli has the perfect combination of calmness and youthful exuberance. The Italian was destined for the elite motor sport class since emerging as a standout in go-karting.
He enjoyed a strong rookie season last year in Formula 1 with Mercedes, getting his first podium finish in Canada. A second place in Brazil and a third place in Las Vegas followed in 2025. This year, Antonelli is leading the driver’s championship after three races.
Cooper Flagg, 19: basketball
After spending a single season at the NBA finishing school of Duke University and then getting drafted into the world’s best basketball league with the first pick by the Dallas Mavericks, Flagg is putting together a great rookie season.
He started the season as a quasi point guard but has shone after being moved to forward, presenting a threat in both offence and defence. In December he scored 42 points against the Utah Jazz, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score more than 40 in a game. On Saturday he scored 51 against Orlando, becoming the first teenager to pass 50 points in an NBA game.
At 19 years old, he possesses elite basketball IQ and could yet become a generational talent in the NBA.
Summer McIntosh, 19 and Yu Zidi, 13: swimming
The 19-year-old Canadian McIntosh already boasts an incredible CV: a three-time Olympic champion, and eight-time World Aquatics champion.
Last June at the Canadian swimming trials, McIntosh set three world records in five days: in the 400m freestyle, the 400m individual medley and the 200m individual medley. In McIntosh’s own words, “records are there to be broken”.
Chinese sensation Yu Zidi lists McIntosh as her idol and had a breakthrough 2025 season. At 12 years old, she reached the final of the 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and the 400m individual medley at the World Championships in Singapore.
Lamine Yamal, 18: football
Yamal joined Barcelona Football Club’s famed La Masia youth setup at six years old, following in the footsteps of the club’s greatest players Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Xavi.
Xavi was one of the earliest supporters of Yamal’s talent, inviting him to train with the first team at just 14 years of age.
A year later, he made his debut for Barcelona against Real Betis, becoming the club’s youngest player to play La Liga. At 18, he has won two La Liga titles and a European Championship with Spain. Last year, Yamal was a runner-up for the Ballon D’Or to France’s Ousmane Dembélé, but ahead of a World Cup, he will be keen to cement his place as one of the world’s best players.
Mirra Andreeva, 18 and Victoria Mboko, 19: tennis
Both teenagers are currently in the WTA top 10.
Canadian Mboko has had a slower rise to the top of tennis. She was ranked 350th in the world two years ago, before reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open this year, her best result in a grand slam.
Andreeva reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the French Open last year leading to a career-high ranking of fifth in the world.
The two players have played against each other three times, with Mboko winning twice.
Arisa Trew, 15: skateboarding
At just 15 years old, Trew is redefining her sport. The Gold Coast teenager won Olympic gold in the park event in Paris in 2024 at 14, becoming the youngest Australian to stand on the top podium at the games.
Trew combines technical excellence with fearlessness. In 2023, she became the first female skateboarder to execute a 720 trick, completing two full rotations in midair. A year later, she became the first female to do a 900 trick, completing two and half rotations whilst airborne. She has already won seven gold medals at the X Games.
Luke Littler, 19: darts
In 2025, Littler became the youngest world champion in darts history and won his second title this year. It was in his first World Championship where he finished runner-up that he brought thousands of new fans to the sport.
Littler enjoys huge popularity in the United Kingdom and has become one of its most famous athletes.
The teenager nicknamed “the Nuke” has helped reshape the image of a sport once only associated with back rooms in pubs.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 15: cricket
Last year, Vaibhav Suryavanshi completed the second-quickest century in the history of the Indian Premier League while playing for the Rajasthan Royals against the Gujarat Titans. It took Suryavanshi just 35 balls to reach 100 runs. He was incredibly just 14 years old.
Suryavanshi made his first-class debut for his state of Bihar at 12 years old in 2024, and at 13 the opening batsman had signed an IPL deal with Rajasthan, the youngest player to do so in the competition’s history. Last Monday, Suryavanshi needed just 15 balls to hit a half-century against the Chennai Super Kings, increasing calls for his India international debut. India great Sachin Tendulkar was 16 when he first played for his country, and Suryavanshi could beat him to the honour.
Gout Gout, 18: athletics
Last Saturday, the Ipswich teenager was beaten for the second successive time in the Australian 200 metres by Lachie Kennedy. Despite the result in Melbourne, Gout still remains the most exciting teenage sprinting talent in Australian history.
Peter Norman had held the Australian 200m record for over 50 years with 20.06 seconds, but Gout has beaten it twice with times of 20.04 and 20.05. In March last year, in the Queensland State Championships, Gout became the first Australian to under 20 seconds, finishing with 19.98, but given the wind assistance, the time didn’t officially go into the record books.
Comparisons to Usain Bolt from a young age have provided immense pressure, but Gout appears to be more than up for meeting the challenge.
