Torres In Medal Treble
Jewish American swimming sensation Dara Torres came within one-hundredth of a second of winning a gold medal in the 50 metre freestyle on Sunday morning.
The 41-year-old, who's a five-time Olympian and the oldest ever American swimmer to take part in the Olympics, missed out by the slenderest of margins, leaving her to pick up her third silver medal of the Games.
It was the second medal she picked up on the final day of swimming at the Water Cube, taking her overall tally of medals to 12 since she first competed in Los Angeles Games back in 1984.
Reflecting on just how close she came to winning Sunday morning's race, she joked afterwards: "Maybe I shouldn't have filed my nails last night."
Her 12-medal haul now makes here the joint-most successful ever US female Olympian, and speaking of her feat, she said: "The thing that's most rewarding here is what can be learned about what I've done.
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams. I'm hoping that people out there that may have thought they were too old to do certain things can realise they're not."
However, any hopes of her winning a record-breaking 13th have been dashed after she said she has no plans to compete any longer. When asked if there's a chance of a third comeback, she said: "No. I said that in 2000, but no."
Also in the pool, American Jason Lezak, who was the first Jewish athlete to win gold, picked up a bonze medal in the 100-metre en's freestyle.
Commenting on his first individual medal, the 32-year-old, who's the oldest male swimmer to ever qualify for an Olympic team said: "That's what's been driving me for the past four years since Athens. It definitely feels good."
Elsewhere, rower Josh West, Great Britain's only Jewish representative by virtue of his Jewish father, won a silver medal in the men's eight competition on Sunday morning. West, who was part of the men's eight who finished in ninth place in Athens said: "We were out there racing for the gold, but silver is still amazing. It's a very different experience being out there at the top rather than at the bottom."
