Latest news with #youngestAthlete
ABC News
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Pre-teen surfer becomes youngest ever WSL competitor
Tahiti surfer Kelia Mehani Gallina has made history becoming the youngest World Surf League athlete at the age of 12. She talks about her love of mixing with her idols and being in the water.
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Island Games: Manx gymnast to be events' youngest competitor at 13
A Manx gymnast whose 13th birthday falls on the first day of the Island Games will be the youngest athlete of more than 2,000 set to compete in the 12 and 18 July, the Orkney in Scotland will welcome participants from 24 nations from around the world to compete in 12 by-laws govern that a competitor must be aged 13 on the day of the opening event to be eligible to take Christian, who will also be the Isle of Man's water carrier in Saturday's opening ceremony, said it was "pretty cool to have made the team by a few hours". Phoebe, who took up the sport aged seven, said she was "proud and excited" to be part of the Manx feeling nervous ahead of the games, she said she felt comforted by the support she had received from her teammates and coaches."I've got the older girls to look up to so that makes me feel more settled," she team manager Helen Duggan said: "If Phoebe's birthday had been one day later she would have missed these games and that would have been it for another two years."But as it is we're going to celebrate her birthday there and we're very hopeful for her at the competition." Gymnastics has not been selected to feature in the bi-annual multi-sport event since the Gotland games in 2017, at which the Manx squad topped the medals Duggan said even though the 12 gymnasts on the team gained international experience at an inter-island competition in Aland 2023, it was "really special to be back at the Island Games".Putting in up to 24 hours of training a week in the build-up to the event, the team were "very, very passionate" and had "given up a lot to get there", she said. Ms Duggan continued: "This is like their Olympics, this is the highlight, the biggest point of their career. It really is a big deal."We're proud to be Manx, we're proud to go the Island Games and proud to represent the Isle of Man."There are three days of gymnastics competition at the Stromness Academy - a local secondary school - across the week, with the first medals in the discipline up for grabs on Monday. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
