g3 － day 8.

Madonna might have hit the golden anniversary of her birth yesterday (Madonna 50? Geez, I'm old.), but it was a silvery Saturday for Team USA women at the Beijing Olympics.

Of course, if swimmer spectacular Dara Torres is the example, then age really is only a number. The 41-year-old mom, a five-time Olympian and the oldest American swimmer ever, got the silver in the women's 50-meter freestyle, as Germany's Britta Steffen, 24, touched the wall 1/100ths of a second faster than the Los Angeles native.

Steffen finished at 24.06 seconds; Torres [above, congratulating Steffen] at 24.07. To complete the race's age spectrum, the bronze went to 16-year-old Australian Cate Campbell, who finished at 24.17.

Steffen's sprint (and Torres', for that matter) bested the Olympic record of 24.13 set in 2000 in Sydney. Torres' silver marked her 11th Olympic medal overall.

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Literally minutes later (she had to leave the medals podium early to prepare), Torres helped make her medal count an even dozen as Team USA earned the silver in the women's Olympic 4x100-meter medley.

Americans Torres, Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, CA), Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, IL) and Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, NJ) finished second to the favored Australian team, which defended its Olympic title by not only winning the event, but also doing it in world-record time. China's team got the bronze.

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Team USA's women's foil fencing team fought for a silver, too, getting solidly beat by the Russian team, 28-11.

Americans Emily Cross (New York, NY), Hanna Thompson (Rochester, NY) and Erinn Smart (Brooklyn, NY) were the opposite of disappointed, though. The team was considered an underdog at best, having been seeded seventh in the quarterfinals. They beat the world champion Polish team and third-seeded Hungary's team to reach the finals.

The Italian team got the bronze.

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Finally, American Michelle Guerette, 27, of Bristol, CT, earned her silver Saturday in the women's single sculls rowing competition. Bulgaria's Rumyana Neykova won the gold, finishing at 7 minutes, 22.34 seconds. Guerette, America's top women's single sculler, finished at 7:22.78. Belarus' Yekaterina Karsten-Khodotovitch got the bronze at 7:23.98.