Adrian defends men's 100-meter freestyle crown

Australia's Chalmers steals gold

 

American swimmer Nathan Adrian defended his gold medal in the men’s 100-meter freestyle in Rio Wednesday, but lost to Australia’s Kyle Chalmers.

Adrian won the bronze medal.

Adrian was the anchor for the U.S. 4x100-meter freestyle relay team that won gold Sunday night in Rio. Besides his gold in the 100-meter free at the 2012 Olympics, he also won another gold and a silver in London to go with a gold he won at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Adrian and 19-year-old Olympic rookie Caeleb Dressel, also a member of the that gold medal 4x100m free relay team, both moved on from prelims on Tuesday, but it was Dressel and not the pre-Olympics favorite Adrian who impressed. Dressel posted the second-fastest overall time, just 0.01 seconds off Australia's Kyle Chalmers while Adrian was the last of 16 swimmers to move onto the semis.

Adrian bounced back in the semis with the fastest overall time of 47.83 to reach the finals, with Dressel posting the fifth-fastest time at 0.14 seconds behind his teammate.

Adrian and Dressel both be part of the American 4x100m medley relay team that will compete starting Friday and Adrian will compete individually in the 50-meter freestyle on Thursday and Friday.