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As David Popovici Lurks at Tokyo Olympics, Romanian Trying to Join Elite Company
David Popovici will be 16 years old when he dives into the pool in the coming days at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Following his impressive performances at the European Junior Championships, history could be in the making if the Romanian finds a way to claim a gold medal. But there’s already been some impressive feats from young stars at the Olympics.
Since the modern iteration of the Olympics began in 1896, just four men under the age of 17 have won gold. Popovici is attempting to change this, but it will be a challenging task as he is likely to come up against Caeleb Dressel, defending Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers and Kliment Kolesnikov, to name a few, in the 100-meter freestyle.
So just who did win Olympic gold before the age of 17?
The first time a male athlete under 17 took home gold in Olympic Swimming was in the first Olympic Games. Iaonnis Malokinis took home gold at age 15 in the 100-meter freestyle for sailors. The event was only open to sailors in the Greek navy and while 11 racers planned to compete, only three got in the water.
A time of 2:20.4 would be considered laughable today (the record now is 46.91) but that was all it took for Malokinis to secure gold. In the 100 free open to all men, Alfréd Hajós finished with a time of 1:22.2, almost a minute quicker than Malokinis’ time. While this dampens Malokinis’ achievement, he remains in the record books as the second youngest male Olympic Swimming champion.
The youngest male Olympic swimming champ is Kazuo Kitamura. While the U.S. had been the nation to beat, Japan dominated in the 1932 Los Angeles games. Japan’s cutting-edge training enabled the country to develop faster swimmers than the competition at the time. In the 1500 freestyle, Kitamura (14) and Shozo Makino (17), crushed the opposition, delivering a gold and silver medal, respectively, to their country. In addition to being the youngest male swimmer to win Olympic gold, Kitamura was the first non-American to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
At the same Games, Kitamura’s compatriot Yasuji Miyazaki also broke records. At 15, he is the only male athlete under the age 17 to win two gold medals. Miyazaki’s wins came in the 100 free and as a member of the 800 freestyle relay. In the 100 free, Miyazaki emerged from a youthful field, but his more impressive victory game in the team event, as Japan obliterated the previous world record. Hungary had set a time of 9:34 at the European Championships just a year prior to the Games. Japan finished with a time of 8:58.4, more than 30 seconds faster than the Hungarian’s old record.
Originally a substitute for the event, Miyazaki was able to swim a strong first leg in 2:14.1, setting Japan up to cruise to Olympic glory.
The final under-17 gold medalist is Australia’s Andrew “Boy” Charlton, who won the 1500 free just shy of his 17th birthday. Charlton competed in the Olympics for the first time in 1924 where he battled world-record holder Arne Borg of Sweden. Borg was able to finish ahead of Charlton in the 400 free, but Charlton shined in the 1500 free, shaving a minute off the world record with his time of 20:06.6. Interestingly, Charlton was never able to reach the pinnacle of Olympic gold again. He won two silver medals in 1928 and then failed to podium in 1932.
It has been 89 years since a male swimmer under the age of 17 has won Olympic gold. The talent and depth of competition is certainly a contributing factor as to why prodigies are so rarely at the top. Young swimmers like Popovici may not even be old enough to drive, but he might just have a shot at snapping that streak.
