Who is the youngest USA athlete to medal at Summer Olympics

Dorothy Poynton-Hill is the youngest athlete from USA to win a medal at the Olympics.

The first few editions of the Olympics saw the participation of many young and old athletes. During the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, Dorothy Poynton-Hill became the youngest athlete from the USA to win a medal.

Dorothy Poynton-Hill was 13 years and 23 days old when she won the silver medal in 3m springboard diving. Hill received 75.62 points to finish ahead of Georgia Coleman. Helen Meany took the gold medal with 78.62 points.

USA comfortably took over the podium while beating athletes from Germany, Netherlands and Austria. Hill was competing at the Olympics for the first time and went on to become one of the most successful divers from the USA.

Also Read: Total medals won by USA in each sport at Summer Olympics

Dorothy Poynton-Hill’s hat-trick of Olympic podium finishes

Hill was still a teenager when she competed in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932. She won the gold medal in diving platform. Competitors had to take four dives with two from the 5m platform and the other two in the 10m platform. 

Hill built a comfortable lead with 40.26 points while Coleman again finished second in the event with 35.56 points. The bronze medal was secured by Marion Roper with 35.22 points. The USA continued their dominance in the diving competition at the Olympics.

Also Read: Who is the oldest USA athlete to medal at Summer Olympics

In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Hill showed her experience playing an important role. She competed in two events for the first time at the summer games. Hill became the first woman to defend an Olympic highboard title.

She stood on top of the podium while finishing with 33.93 points. Hill narrowly edged Velma Dunn who received 33.63 points. Kathe Kohler from Germany made sure the American hat-trick was avoided as she won the bronze medal with 33.43 points.

In the 3m springboard event, Hill captured her fourth Olympic medal by finishing third. She was awarded 82.36 points. The second position was taken by Katherine Rawls and the gold medallist was Marjorie Gestring.

Gestring was 13 years 268 days old when she won the gold medal. She is the youngest gold medal winner at the summer games in an individual event.

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