Kimi Antonelli was crowned the new Formula 1 world champion on Sunday in Mexico City - and he has broken some milestones along the way.

The 20-year-old’s podium in Mexico on Sunday means he has an unassailable lead at the top of the standings with four rounds remaining and he becomes the youngest champion in the sport’s 76-year history, beating Sebastian Vettel’s previous record at 23 years of age.

Antonelli also becomes just the fourth driver (after Lewis Hamilton, Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Manuel Fangio) to win the world championship in his second season. His campaign has launched Antonelli into world stardom and he is now the biggest star in Italian sport alongside Jannik Sinner, as he became Italy’s first F1 champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953.

Yet perhaps the bigger question now is: where is Antonelli in the wider schism of the world’s top young sports stars? There are a plethora of talents aged 21 or under who have taken their chosen sport by storm in recent years.

And we’ve taken the plunge and decided to rank them. Here are The Independent’s top-10 sportspeople aged 21 or under. And for variety, we’ve plumped for one athlete per sport in the top-10.

10. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi – Cricket (15)

We start the list with the youngest entrant. Indian cricket’s next-big thing – the star opening batsman who debuted in the IPL aged 13 and hit the tournament’s second-quickest century off just 45 balls – made his India debut this year at the age of 15 years and 99 days, the youngest player to ever feature for his country.

With a T20 half-century against Zimbabwe in July, he became the youngest batter to score a 50 in international cricket. His ceiling is massive: no cricketer has ever broken through the ranks quite so early. That being said, rightly, India are wary of throwing him right in at the deep end too soon.

9. Cooper Flagg – Basketball (19)

Flagg, who excelled in his one college year at Duke, was the No 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and was picked by the Dallas Mavericks and was named the Rookie of the Year last season.

Standing at 6’9”, he has already emerged as a key franchise player and, amongst others, has been compared to former Chicago Bulls two-way forward Scottie Pippen. Alongside Victor Wembanyama (who just misses out on this list at the age of 22) he is basketball’s biggest young prospect.

8. Gout Gout – Athletics (18)

The Australian 100m and 200m sprinter, born in Queensland to parents from South Sudan, first rose to prominence in 2023 when, at the age of 15, he broke the Australian under-18 200m record.

Inevitably, immediate comparisons are with Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest-ever sprinter. And when Gout ran a stunning 19.67 seconds – the 16th quickest time ever – to break the world under-20 record in Sydney earlier this year, it was striking that the Aussie was quicker than Bolt at the same age. However, he is yet to break 10 seconds over 100m.

7. Quan Hongchan – Diving (19)

Now we’re getting onto the world beaters.

The diving sensation won the Olympic women’s 10m individual platform event at Tokyo 2020 (aged 14) – breaking the previous Olympic record score of 447.70 set in 2008 with a tally of 466.20 – and Paris 2024 (aged 17) and also claimed synchronised gold in Paris.

She also already has five world championship gold medals to her name and has received numerous perfect 10 scores. However, her last few years have been blighted by tibia and ankle injuries, as well as a 10cm growth spurt.

6. Alysa Liu – Figure Skating (21)

The American figure skater dazzled as a junior, becoming the youngest-ever US women’s national champion at the age of 13, before surprisingly retiring in 2022.

However, she returned in 2024 and won gold in the women’s singles event at the 2025 world championships in Boston before matching that feat at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina earlier this year, alongside claiming team gold. It was the first time a women’s singles figure skater won two golds in one Games. She is currently on a hiatus for the 2026-27 season.

5. Luke Littler – Darts (19)

His breakthrough world championship run at the age of 16 at the Alexandra Palace at the back end of 2023 captivated a global audience, launching him to stardom despite a loss in the final against Luke Humphries.

The Warrington-born lad would go one better in the last two years, though, becoming the sport’s youngest ever world champion. He has won 14 PDC major titles – already third on the all-time list – and even just hosted his own Netflix event: Beat Luke Littler.

4. Mirra Andreeva – Tennis (19)

The Russian tennis star first burst onto the scene at Wimbledon in 2023 where, aged 16 and as a qualifier, she reached the fourth round and finished that season in the top-50.

A year later, she won her first title in Romania as her ranking steadily increased before her big crowning moment this year in Paris, where she won her first Grand Slam at the French Open, becoming the youngest Roland Garros champion since Monica Seles in 1992. She is currently the world No 3.

3. Summer McIntosh – Swimming (20)

The Canadian swimmer is the greatest young prospect in mainstream Olympic sports right now, first bursting onto the scene when she made the Canadian team at Tokyo 2020, aged 14, and finished a respectable fourth in the 400m freestyle.

A year later, she won two golds at the world championships and has eight world golds in total. Then, at Paris 2024, she captured three individual gold medals: 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley. She also claimed a 400m freestyle silver medal – an astonishing return at the age of just 17 – and has broken seven world records in total.

2. Kimi Antonelli – Formula 1 (20)

Earmarked as a generational talent due to his immense karting prowess, Antonelli was just 17 when he was told he would replace the joint-greatest driver in F1 history, Lewis Hamilton, at Mercedes for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Despite a challenging rookie year, Antonelli stormed to the 2026 world championship, dominating experienced teammate George Russell as he recorded nine wins and 16 podiums from 19 rounds. Alongside his raw speed and impressive maturity, his likeability now makes him one of the most marketable stars in world sport.

1. Lamine Yamal – Football (19)

While he missed out on the Ballon d’Or last week, Yamal added to his stunning teenage trophy collection with a World Cup winners medal in the summer and, despite a tournament where he didn’t reach his stratospheric peak, his virtuoso semi-final display against France highlighted his star prowess on the wing.

Yamal is, undoubtedly, the next big star in world football – and thus world sport. After the World Cup and Euros with Spain… next on his list? A Champions League title with Barcelona. Then, maybe, a Ballon d’Or will follow.

Honourable mentions

Sky Brown (19) – The skateboarder who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, aged 13. She repeated the same feat in Paris and also has two world championship gold medals to her name. Very unfortunate to miss out on this list.

Macklin Celebrini (20) – The youngest NHL player to feature for Canada at the Winter Olympics, Celebrini is captain of the San Jose Sharks, after being selected first in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

Pau Cubarsi (19) – Yamal’s club and country teammate stood out at centre back for Spain in their World Cup-winning run and, as a result, he won the award for the tournament’s best young player.

Victor Wembanyama (22) – The biggest young star in world basketball turned 22 in January and, thus, just misses out on this list.