Factbox: Youngest competitors at Beijing Games

(Reuters) - Following is a factbox on young athletes competing at the Beijing Games:

There is no age limit for athletes at the Olympics. Under International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules, international federations governing each sport may set age requirements.

ANTOINETTE JOYCE GUEDIA MOUAFO, CAMEROON, 12 -- 21/10/1995

Women's 50 meter freestyle swimmer Guedia is the youngest athlete at Beijing, aged 12 years 10 months. She has rarely swum in an Olympic-sized pool. Nicknamed "Champion" by her excited schoolfriends, Guedia still trains in the same 22-metre (72-feet) hotel pool where she learned to swim, aged 8.

DWAYNE DIDON, 13, SEYCHELLES -- 11/09/1994

Didon, the Games' youngest male athlete, will swim in the 50 freestyle. Growing up at the top of a mountain in the east African archipelago nation, Didon learnt to swim when he was 9 and became one of the island nation's top swimmers in just four years. His family lives in the village of La Misere, or misery.

TOM DALEY, 14, BRITAIN -- 21/05/1994

Britain's second youngest Olympian, Daley says he is using the Games as a springboard towards a diving medal at his home Olympics in 2012. Eldest of three sons, he won the European 10-metre platform title. Also performed in the synchronized event where his 26-year-old partner blamed him for their poor showing.

MARY-BETH DUNNICHAY, 15, U.S. -- 25/02/1993

The youngest member of the U.S. team, Dunnichay is five months younger than diving partner Haley Ishimatsu (see entry below). Both train six hours a day, six days a week. A bronze medalist in synchronized 10m at 2007 Pan American Games, home-schooled Dunnichay started diving in 1999.

CHEN RUOLIN, 15, CHINA -- 12/12/1992

Olympic gold medalist in the women's 10m synchronized platform, Chen began diving at the age of 4 and made her international debut in the Doha Asian Games as a 13-year-old. The teenager topped the women's 10m platform qualifiers held in Canada in May.

HALEY ISHIMATSU, 15, U.S. -- 10/09/1992

Ishimatsu is competing in the 10m and synchronized 10m diving events. Originally a gymnast, she turned to diving in 2004, and moved to Indianapolis to attend USA Diving's Training Center in 2006. Made her international diving debut the same year.

MELISSA WU, 16, AUSTRALIA -- 03/05/1992

Wu, who is 142 cm (4 ft 7.9 in) tall and weighs 27 kg (59.5 lb), began diving in 2002, aged 10. She won silver medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2007 world championships. Her father, a Sydney physiotherapist, was born in China and emigrated when he was 13. Wu has already visited China several times.