The biggest competition in swimming at the 2012 Olympics is between two men of the same country. Michael Phelps, who has won an incredible 14 gold medals thus far, squared off with a field led by American swimmer Ryan Lochte. He is widely regarded as the best in the world.
Lochte completely dominated the 400m IM Finals, winning with a time of 4:05.18. He was right on pace to set the world record until the final 50 meters of the race. Lochte finished the race more than three seconds ahead of the silver medal winner, Thiago Pereira of Brazil. Japan's Kosuke Hagino finished just ahead of Phelps to win bronze.
Phelps simply did not look comfortable in the race. He held strong with Lochte for the first 100m or so, but he just couldn't maintain pace. This is the first time since 2000 that Phelps finished a medal race without placing in the top-three.
For continued updates throughout the Olympics, be sure to follow this StoryStream. Check out SB Nation's Olympics Hub for even more news.