China's Sun Yang fell short of his attempt to a back-to-back gold in one of the program's long-distance freestyle races due to a strong performance from Australia's Mack Horton.

Heading into the final lap with a narrow 0.14-second lead, Horton managed to hold off the fast-charging Sun towards the finish for his first individual gold medal in 3:41.55.

[3] Conor Dwyer (3:44.01), the fastest swimmer headed into the final, and fellow American Connor Jaeger (3:44.16) finished off the podium in fourth and fifth respectively, separated by a 0.15-second margin.

[4] Great Britain's James Guy led the pack towards the halfway mark under a world record pace, but faded to sixth in 3:44.68.

[3] South Korean swimmer and Beijing 2008 champion Park Tae-hwan, as well as Canada's long distance ace Ryan Cochrane, did not advance to the final, finishing tenth and eleventh in the prelims.