[1] U.S. swimmer Allison Schmitt blasted a new Olympic record with a stunning effort to capture the gold medal in the event for the first time, since Nicole Haislett topped the podium in 1992.

She pulled away from a tightly packed field on the final lap to hit the wall first in a sterling time of 1:53.61, shaving 1.21 seconds off the record set by Italy's Federica Pellegrini from Beijing in 2008.

[2][3] After defeating Schmitt in a close duel to grab the 400 m freestyle title two days earlier, France's Camille Muffat trailed behind her rival by almost a body length for the silver in 1:55.58.

[4] Meanwhile, Australia's Bronte Barratt produced a striking touch to take home the bronze in 1:55.81, edging out American teenage star Missy Franklin by a hundredth of a second.

[8][9] Russia's Veronika Popova (1:57.25), Great Britain's home favorite Caitlin McClatchey (1:57.60) and Barratt's teammate Kylie Palmer (1:57.68) closed out the field.