[2] After overhauling the Americans in the 4 × 100 freestyle relay with a stunning anchor leg, France's Yannick Agnel pulled away from a star-studded field by over a full body length to earn his second Olympic gold in swimming at these Games.

Billed as the "Race of the Century", he came up again with a spectacular swim on the final stretch to hit the wall first in 1:43.14, posting a textile best in the process and moving rapidly to third in the world's all time rankings.

[3][4] Meanwhile, South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan and China's Sun Yang tied for the silver medal in a matching time of 1:44.93, following a dramatic rivalry in the 400 m freestyle final two days earlier.

[5][6] Agnel's gold was France's first medal in the men's 200 metre freestyle, with Sun's silver the first for China.

[7][8] Germany's world-record holder Paul Biedermann faded down the stretch to pick up a fifth spot in 1:45.53, edging out British home favorite Robbie Renwick by a full body length with a highly-creditable, sixth-place effort (1:46.53).

[9] Australia's Thomas Fraser-Holmes (1:46.93) and Russia's Danila Izotov (1:47.75) also vied for an Olympic medal to round out the stellar championship field.

[6] Notable swimmers missed out the final roster featuring Lochte's teammate Ricky Berens, who replaced Michael Phelps to fill out the slot for the Americans but placed ninth (1:46.87); and Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry, a sixth-place finalist in Beijing four years earlier, who finished fifteenth in the semifinals (1:48.25).

Lochte was the favourite without Phelps competing, though Park, Sun Yang of China (the 400 metres champion in London), and Yannick Agnel of France were serious contenders.

Nine nations (Australia, the Cayman Islands, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States) had two swimmers meet the OQT.