Olympics: Lochte wins gold in the pool as rival Phelps misses out

Much-anticipated duel between the two US rivals turns into a blowout for Lochte.

US swimmer Ryan Lochte reacts after winning the men's 400m individual medley final swimming event at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Emmanuel Dunand / AFP
Powered by automated translation

LONDON // Ryan Lochte turned his much-anticipated duel with Michael Phelps into a blowout, pulling away to win the Olympic 400-metre individual medley by more than 3 seconds Saturday night. Even more stunning: Phelps did not win any medal at all.

After barely qualifying for the evening final in a performance that hinted at trouble ahead, Phelps struggled to a fourth-place finish and was denied his 17th career Olympic medal. When it was done, he could barely pull himself out of the pool.

"I felt fine the first 200, then I don't know," Phelps said. "They just swam a better race than me, a smarter race than me, and were better prepared than me. That's why they're on the medal stand."

Brazil's Thiago Pereira took the silver, and Japan's Kosuke Hagino claimed the bronze - beating Phelps by a fairly comfortable 34-hundredths of a second for the last spot on the podium.

It was the first time since the 2000 Sydney Games, when Phelps was a 15-year-old unknown who qualified in just one event, that he didn't win at least a bronze in an Olympic race. Since then, he was 16-of-16 - 14 golds and two bronzes.

Lochte climbed out of the pool with a big smile, waving to the crowd and looking about a fresh as he did at the start. He had predicted this would be his year and, for the first race at least, he was right on the mark.

"I think I'm kind of in shock right now," he said. As for Phelps, "I know he gave it everything he had. That's all you can ask for."

Phelps was trying to become the first male swimmer to win the same event at three straight Olympics. He will have three more chances at a threepeat before he is done in London, having also won the 200 individual medley, plus the 100 and 200 butterfly, at the last two Olympics.