Ryan Lochte misses cut in Olympic trials, won't qualify to defend title
Ryan Lochte won't defend his gold medal for the 400-meter individual medley in the Rio Olympics.
On the first night of the U.S. swimming trials, Lochte was beat out of his own race and lost his chance to represent the U.S. for the only individual title he won in the 2012 London Olympics.
Instead of the 400 I.M. gold medalist on the platform, it will be Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland – college teammates out of the University of Georgia.
Lochte swam through the finals with a groin injury he sustained earlier in the day, but, for a few reasons, opting out of the finals wasn't an option for him.
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"It's the Olympic trials," Lochte said. "If I had a broken leg, I'd still go out there and swim."
Lochte started strong swimming past Kalisz for the first 200 yards. It was the second half of the race on an injury that took a toll on Lochte's performance. Kalisz blew past Lochte and Litherland followed to steal Lochte's spot in the 400 I.M.
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Kalisz finished in 4 minutes and 9.541 seconds. Litherland was next in 4:11.021, and Lochte trailed exactly 1 second behind him to finish in third place.
There's still a chance for Lochte to make the Olympic team. He is entered in five more events in Omaha, although it's unclear how his injury will affect his performance in his next races.
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