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.
SHAWN JOHNSON, 16, U.S. -- 19/01/1992
In her first year as a senior, she won the all-round gold at the Pan-American Games, U.S. nationals and world championships. An only child, her parents have taken out three mortgages on their home to support their daughter's career. One of her most cherished possessions is a Wheaties box signed by the Magnificent Seven who claimed team gold at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
PRISCILLA TOMMY, 17, VANUATU -- 23/05/1991
Believed to be the opening ceremony's youngest flag bearer representing the three-person team from the south Pacific island nation, she is regional table tennis champion in the women's singles and team events. She received an International Olympic Committee invitation to compete and has a regional scholarship to receive Chinese coaching.
GHARID GHROUF, 17, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES -- 12/09/1990
The sprinter, one of four Palestinian athletes competing in Beijing, will run in the women's 100 meters. Born with a handicap that made her walk "like Charlie Chaplin" in her own words, she was the Palestinian Territories' top sprinter for her age for 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters by 2003.
Sources: Reuters, Olympics team websites (www.olympics.com.au, teamusa.org, www.olympics.org.uk), The IOC (here), Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (en.beijing2008.cn)
