RIO DE JANEIRO (WHDH) — The U.S. stronghold on the 400m individual medley was shaken off when Japan’s Kosuke Hagino took the gold in a time of four minutes, 6.05 seconds. Team USA member Chase Kalisz, in his first Olympic appearance, took silver in a time of 4:06.75 while Hagino’s teammate Daiya Seto earned a bronze, clocking 4:09.71. Japan had never won gold in this event before.

American Jay Litherland took fifth place, racing to 4:11.68.

Since 1996, Americans Tom Dolan (1996, 2000), Michael Phelps (2004, 2008) and Ryan Lochte (2012) traditionally claimed Olympic gold in this event. Hagino is the first non-American since 1992 to win the event.

Lochte, the defending 2012 Olympic champion, missed out on qualifying for this event when he finished third in June’s U.S. Olympic Trials after injuring his groin. This was Kalisz’s first Olympic appearance and he got advice beforehand from Phelps, his roommate in Rio.

“He told me just have fun, it’s like any other swim meet, and that’s what I was trying to do,” said Kalisz. “I didn’t even have the mindset that it was the Olympic games and as he started pulling away and I saw where I was, I kind of realized that I’m going to be an Olympic silver medalist and that was probably the first part that it hit me that I was at the Olympic games and I think that was the best way for me to swim it.”

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(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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