The Beijing Olympics and Paralympics have recently ended on February 20th and March 13th respectively. This year’s Winter Olympics had been one of a kind since it was the first time the event had taken place during a pandemic. A variety of exceptional performances were seen from across 91 different countries, with almost 3000 people participating in the games, many of whom were teenagers from around the globe.
To honour and showcase their achievements, here are some of the teen athletes that made an exceptional impression at the Olympics this year:
- Eileen Gu (China)
Eileen Gu is an 18-year-old Chinese-American skier and part-time model. During this Winter Olympics, Gu competed in three events – the Women’s Halfpipe, Women’s Slopestyle, and Women’s Big Air – all three of which she managed to achieve an Olympic Medal in. Moreover, Gu set a world record back prior to the Winter Olympics in November 2021, being the first person ever to land a double cork 1440 in female freeskiing.
- Alysa Liu (USA)
Alysa Liu is a 16-year-old figure skater who represented the USA in the Beijing Olympics. As the youngest athlete representing Team USA this year, Liu finished in 7th place at the Ladies Single Figure Skating Finals, scoring a total of 208.95 points. Despite missing out on the medals, Liu continues to honour her achievement, stating that her goal was to “stay in the moment and enjoy everything.” In addition to the achievements Liu has reaped in her successful athletic career so far, she too has graduated high school at the young age of 15!
- Su Yiming (China)
Su Yiming is an 18-year-old Chinese snowboarder. Su competed in two events – Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle and Men’s Snowboard Big Air. He earned a medal in both competitions, and also earned China’s first-ever Olympic Medal in Snowboarding. Besides Snowboarding, Su Yiming is also known for his acting as a young child. After winning two medals for China in men’s snowboarding, Su described these moments as a “dream come true, I think I’m crying like a little kid”.
- Anezka Indrackova (Czech Republic)
Representing the Czech Republic aged 15, Anezka Indrackova was the youngest athlete competing at the Beijing Olympics. Participating in the Women’s Ski Jumping event, this was Indrackova’s first international event. She placed 30th at the finals.
In stark contrast to the achievements of these teenagers, however, a scandal unfolded in the figure skating arena. Kamila Valieva, a Russian 15-year-old figure skater, had tested positive for the drug trimetazidine, which helps athletes to improve endurance during their performance. Valieva claimed that the result was because of a mix-up with her grandfather’s medication. Numerous medical professionals believe otherwise.
Prior to the scandal, several Russian female skaters had been the centre of attention in the media for their Olympic successes as those who were able to score highly on advanced jumps were mainly young females because of their physical body shape. It is reported that many young Russian females that had won skating competitions suffered long and painful injuries, taking a toll on their long-term health. Thus, this shows how rigorous and dangerous the sport can be for many teenagers. Additionally, with young so many young teenagers competing, many are faced with social and mental pressure from society. This sparked attention towards the adults responsible for the young girls’ training, resulting in many accusing the adults of “evidence of abuse of a minor.” As a result, this led many skating officials to consider whether raising the age limit for Olympic competitions in the future would ensure the safety of these prospecting teenagers.
Despite this controversial scandal, it is evident that the future looks bright for these teen athletes’ future careers, proving that age is certainly just a number.
Written by Naomi Pang
