自古英雄出少年

张自林

“自古英雄出少年”，在奥运的历史长河中，这句中国古语更是体现得淋漓尽致。少年英雄在奥运场上燃烧青春的激情，奋力拼搏，创造出一项又一项的惊人佳绩，在奥运史上留下了浓重的一笔。让我们一起来回顾那些最年轻奥运冠军的风采吧。

Marjorie Gestring—the youngest Olympic gold medalist

At age 13, Marjorie Gestring was our youngest Olympic gold medal winner ever in springboard diving at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. No one, except maybe Adolph Hitler who watched her win, could predict it would be her last. World War II robbed Gestring of her shots at the 1940 and 1944 Olympic titles. At age 26, her Olympic comeback try in 1948 fell short.

Bob Mathias—the youngest athlete in Olympic history to win a mens athletics event

17-year-old American Bob Mathias won the decathlon only four months after taking up the sport. He is the youngest athlete in Olympic history to win a mens athletics event. By the time Mathias retired from decathlon competition in 1952, he had nine victories in nine competitions, four United States championships, three world records and two Olympic gold medals, all before he was 22.

Dmitry Nelyubin—the youngest Olympic champion among male cyclists.

Olympic cycling champion Dmitry Nelyubin died in the very beginning of the new year，in St.Petersburg. The 33-year-old athlete was killed on New Years night. Nelyubin was the youngest Olympic champion among male cyclists. He clutched his gold medal in Seoul at the age of 17.

Dmitry Nelyubin became the Olympic champion in 1988. He also became the world champion and won many other titles afterwards. The athlete finished his cycling career seven years ago at the age of 26.

Fu Mingxia—the youngest Olympic diving champion

Fu Mingxia became the youngest Olympic champion at the age of 14. Her success became a cover story in “Time” magazine titled “Olympic Height—Chinas gold medallist Fu Mingxia.” Four years later, in Atlanta, she went on to do well again, winning the womens platform and springboard diving competitions.

Gezahegne—the youngest Olympic marathon champion

Gezahegne is known as the youngest Olympic marathon champion ever, after winning the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sidney, Australia. But he has also won the London Marathon (2003), where he ran a 2:07:56, the Fukuoka Marathon (2002, 2001 and 1999), and the World Championship Marathon (2001). Gezahegne also finished second in the Boston Marathon in 2000.

Lipinski—the youngest Olympic figure skating champion

Lipinski became the youngest-ever womens Olympic champion at 15 years and eight months — two months younger than Sonja Henie of Norway when she won the womens title at the 1928 Winter Games in St. Moritz.

马乔里·谢丝特琳——最年轻的奥运金牌得主。

马乔里·谢丝特琳在1936年的柏林奥运会上夺得女子3米弹板跳水冠军，当时她只有13岁，成为最年轻的奥运金牌得主。除了看到她取胜的阿道夫·希特勒外，没有人能预见到这会是她的最后一次。二战剥夺了她参与1940年和1944年奥运会的机会。26岁时，她重返1948年奥运会的尝试失败。

鲍勃·麦西亚—— 奥运史上赢得男子田径赛冠军最年轻的运动员。

17岁的美国人鲍勃·麦西亚在从事十项全能运动仅仅四个月后就赢得了该项比赛的冠军。他是男子田径运动赛事上最为年轻的奥运冠军。1952年麦西亚从十项全能比赛中退役时，他已在9场比赛中获得过9次胜利，其中4次美国锦标赛冠军，三次世界冠军，还有两块奥运金牌，而这一切辉煌都是在他22岁前取得的。

特米特里·内利厄宾——奥运史上最年轻的男子赛车冠军

奥运赛车冠军特米特里·内利厄宾在新年伊始逝去，33岁的他在新年的夜晚被害于圣彼得堡。内利厄宾是奥运史上最年轻的男子赛车冠军，他17岁时在汉城奥运会上一举夺金。

特米特里·内利厄宾在1988成为奥运冠军。之后他也夺得多次世界冠军，并赢得过其他荣誉。26岁时，他结束了自己的赛车生涯。

伏明霞——最年轻的奥运跳水冠军。

伏明霞14岁就成为最年轻的奥运跳水冠军。她的成功还上了《时代》杂志的封面故事，名为“奥运高度——中国的金牌得主伏明霞”。 四年后，在亚特兰大，她风采依旧，赢得了女子跳台跳水和弹板跳水比赛。

盖察黑格内——最年轻的奥运马拉松冠军

盖察黑格内是众所周知的最年轻的马拉松冠军，他赢得了2000年澳大利亚悉尼奥运会的马拉松比赛冠军。但他也赢过2003年伦敦马拉松比赛，这场比赛中他跑了2:07:56的成绩，还有福冈马拉松比赛 (2002, 2001和1999年)和世界马拉松锦标赛(2001).盖察黑格内也在2000年的波士顿马拉松比赛中获得了第二名的成绩。

利平斯基——最年轻的奥运花样滑冰冠军

利平斯基成为奥运有史以来最年轻的女子花样滑冰冠军，那时她才15岁零8个月，比在1928年圣莫里茨冬奥会上女子花样滑冰项目上夺冠的挪威选手松亚·黑妮埃还小两个月 。