10 youngest Olympic medal winners

Barbara Pearl Jones

Barbara Jones (2nd from right)

Elite athlete Barbara Pearl Jones of the United States of America was part of the 4x100m relay team that took part in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland and would go on to win gold in the event. Jones was only 15 years old at the time, and at the Games became the youngest ever woman to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics.

Jones was also part of the 4x100m relay team that competed in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Italy, with the team taking gold again.

She is an active part of the US athletics scene, now in an advisory role, as a member of the US Paralympic Games Committee.