[1] U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps blasted a new world record of 1:52.03 to defend his title in the event, and more importantly, claim his fourth Olympic gold, tenth career, and twelfth overall medal.

[2] Hungary's László Cseh added a second silver to his hardware from the 400 m individual medley, breaking a European record of 1:52.70.

[3][4] New Zealand's Moss Burmester shared a fourth place with host nation China's Wu Peng in 1:54.35, while Poland's Paweł Korzeniowski finished sixth with a time of 1:54.60.

Brazil's Kaio de Almeida (1:54.71) and Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov (1:55.14) rounded out the finale.

[3] Earlier in the semifinals, Phelps registered his own Olympic record of 1:53.70 to establish a strong lead for the top 8 final, matching his preliminary time in the process.