Grevers, Franklin strike gold; Lochte finishes 4th

Posted: Jul 30, 2012 2:31 PM by cbssports.com
Updated: Jul 30, 2012 3:07 PM

LONDON - American teenager Missy Franklin won the women's 100-meter backstroke at the London Olympics on Monday.

Franklin won the two-lap race in 58.33 seconds for her first Olympic gold and second medal after taking bronze in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Emily Seebohm of Australia touched in 58.68 to take the silver medal and Aya Terakawa of Japan finished in 58.83 to take bronze.

Franklin swam little more than 10 minutes after taking the eighth and final qualifying spot in the 200 freestyle semifinals.

Matt Grevers of the United States set an Olympic record to win the men's 100-meter backstroke.

Grevers finished in 52.16 seconds, 0.38 ahead of the previous mark set by fellow American Aaron Peirsol at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Nick Thoman, another American, was second in 52.92, and Ryosuke Irie of Japan was third in 52.97.

Yannick Agnel dealt another crushing blow to Ryan Lochte and everyone else in the supposed Race of the Century on Monday.

Agnel showed that his brilliant swim on the Olympic relay was no fluke. The towering Frenchman did it again in the 200 free, leading from start to finish in perhaps the most star-studded race of these games -- even without Michael Phelps, who passed up a chance to defend his Olympic title.

That might have been a good move by Phelps. It was hard to see anyone beating Agnel on this night, as he pulled away to win by a full body length in 1 minute, 43.14 seconds. There were gold medalists galore in the field, but no one came close to challenging the Frenchman, who steadily pulled away, looking just as strong at the end as he did at the beginning.

The previous night in the 4x100 free relay, Lochte anchored the Americans and took over with a half-body length lead. But Agnel chased him down on the final leg, giving France the gold and payback for the stunning U.S. win in the same event at the 2008 Beijing Games.

In the men's team gymnastics, China won gold while Team USA finished 5th.