France Gets Revenge Against USA in 4x100 Freestyle Relay

The French 4x100 relay team celebrate their come-from-behind victory to win the gold medal Sunday night. (Mark Terrill)

Since its inception, the Summer Olympics 4x100 freestyle relay has been one of the most highly contested competitions of all. Its history has been full of trash-talking, surprising upsets, and exciting finishes. In Beijing four years ago, France were the favorites to win it all. With a substantial lead going into the final leg, Alain Bernard looked like he would be able to bring the French the gold. However, American anchor Jason Lezak started to make a move down the stretch. Exerting all his effort, Lezak just beat out Bernard by 0.08 seconds to bring Team USA the upset victory.

This year's installment lived up to the billing of excitement as well. The Australians were the heavy favorites to win the gold, led off by James "The Missle" Magnussen. The United States relay team, featuring Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, was among the other top contenders, along with France and dark horse Russia.

A shockingly poor first leg by Magnussen seemed to completely throw the Aussies out of sync. The United States took full advantage, building a substantial lead. France and Russia hung back just off the pace. American Cullen Jones gave Lochte, the anchor, a full second lead. But then all of a sudden, French anchor Yannick Agnel began to make his move. As the final stretch wore on, he got stronger and stronger before finally passing Lochte and winning the gold by 0.45 seconds.

While the French celebrated, the United States had to settle for silver. Meanwhile, Australia, the favorite, got beat out by Russia for the bronze. For France, winning the gold was sweet vengeance served. Agnel swam a beautiful final leg. At just 20 years of age, he is one of the bright young international stars of the sport. It will be interesting to see if this result will have any carry over effect into the rest of the swimming that is still to come.

Ryan Lochte Dominates Field to Win 400 IM Gold Medal

US swimmer Ryan Lochte proudly displays his first gold medal and patriotic dental work. (Fabrice Coffrini)

Very few Olympic swimmers marched in the Opening Ceremony. The long standing duration during the parade would be too much for many of them who began competition today. One of those races today was the men's 400 IM. What made this race an even bigger deal is that it was the first of the much anticipated head-to-head battles between Americans Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.

Phelps, of course, is an Olympic legend. In his final Olympics, he looks to go out in golden glory. In the four years since Beijing, Lochte has become the greatest swimmer in the world. Phelps claimed none of that mattered until Lochte proved it on an Olympic stage. Their first opportunity came tonight.

Lochte got a great start right out of the starting blocks. As the race wore on, he seemed to get stronger. Phelps stayed in contention through the first 200 meters, but then started to lose pace the rest of the way. After Lochte led the butterfly leg, Phelps' best stroke, it seemed certain that it was all but over. The only question that remained going into the final leg was whether or not Lochte could beat Phelps' world record.

As it turned out, Lochte (4:05.18) didn't quite have enough left in the tank to capture the record, but he still won the gold by a wide margin. Brazil's Thiago Pereira (4:08.86) and Japan's Kosuke Hagino won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Meanwhile, Phelps (4:09.28) finished off the medal podium at a disappointing fourth.

For Lochte, the gold medal has to be rewarding. Even though he is the greatest swimmer in the world, he continues to be overshadowed by Phelps. At this point in their careers, Lochte is simply the superior athlete. The main advantages Phelps had coming into the Olympics were experience and confidence. His experience clearly didn't matter in this race. It is uncertain how this will affect Phelps' confidence. He's never really experienced failure, so it will be interesting to see how he bounces back. Round One goes to Ryan Lochte in convincing fashion, but there's still much more swimming to come.

Ryan Lochte Beats Michael Phelps in 400 IM Trial

Ryan Lochte swims during the men's 400-meter individual medley at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials. (Mark J. Terrill)

While all the hype seems to be building around Michael Phelps' return to the Olympics, Ryan Lochte is the one who keeps beating Phelps head-to-head. At last year's world championships, it was Lochte who won five gold medals and both head-to-head races against Phelps.

After setting the world record in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2008 Olympics, Phelps stated that he was done with the grueling event. Besides Phelps, no one knew whether he would stick to his word or try to win another medal in London. It turned out Phelps decided to give the race one last shot.

This set the stage for a showdown between Lochte, Phelps, and Tyler Clary. Clary had finished second behind Lochte in last year's world championship. The three men were battling for two spots in London in the race. Into the pool they went tonight with those very spots up for grabs. Phelps built the early lead on his best stroke, the butterfly leg. When they switched to breaststroke, Lochte took the lead and didn't look back. His lead held strong to the end, beating Phelps by about a half-body length. Clary finished a distant and disappointing third.

This means that we have at least one rematch between Lochte and Phelps in London to look forward to. Phelps is looking to add to his already record 14 gold medals. The very fact that he is even participating in this grueling race shows that he was regained motivation to finish his final Olympics strong. Lochte is looking to prove himself in London. He has shown himself to be dominant at the world championships, but this is the Olympics. Will Lochte be able to take the baton of dominance from Phelps and carry it on himself? We will find out in about one month's time.