[1] London 2012 bronze medalist Kosuke Hagino held off a late challenge from the U.S. swimmer Chase Kalisz down the final stretch to touch the wall first in a new Asian record of 4:06.05.

Meanwhile, Hagino's fellow countryman and 2015 world champion Daiya Seto captured the bronze in 4:09.71, to give Japan two swimmers on the same Olympic podium for the first time in 60 years.

[4] Great Britain's Max Litchfield finished off the podium with a fourth-place time in 4:11.62, edging out the American Jay Litherland by six-hundredths of a second (4:11.68).

Australian duo Thomas Fraser-Holmes (4:11.90) and Travis Mahoney (4:15.48), as well as Spain's Joan Lluís Pons (4:16.58) closed out the field.

[3] Germany's Jacob Heidtmann, who established a new national record of 4:11.85 to finish among the top eight for the final, was disqualified for using two dolphin kicks in the breaststroke leg during the prelims.