2012 London Olympics: Ryan Lochte Wins First US Gold Medal, Michael Phelps Finishes Fourth

It's only the first full day of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and the U.S. has already earned its first gold medal: American swimmer Ryan Lochte took home the gold for swimming in the 400-meter individual medley.

Lochte won the race with a time of 4:05.18, which was 3.68 seconds better than the second-best time. The win doesn't come as too much of a surprise for anyone following the swimming world before the games.

What many people didn't predict, however, was the performance of Michael Phelps, 14 times an Olympic gold medal winner.

Despite taking the Athens and Beijing Olympic Games by storm in 2004 and 2008, respectively, Phelps failed to make the podium in the big race Saturday. Phelps finished fourth with a time of 4:09.28, behind Brazil's Pereira Thiago and Japan's Hagino Kosuke.

According to New York Daily News, Phelps' coach Bob Bowman was "not pleasantly" surprised at the fourth-place finish. Phelps himself also acknowledged it was "just a crappy race."

Despite Phelps' poor performance at the finals for the event, Phelps finished first in his heat for the qualifying rounds early Saturday. His time was 4:13.33, just under a second behind Ryan Lochte's qualifying time of 4:12.35.

Phelps holds the world record for the 400-meter freestyle, with a time of 4:03.84 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Saturday's swimming competitions also saw the first new world record set at the 2012 London Olympics: China's Ye Shiwen set a record for the women's 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:28.43, as she bested American swimmer Elizabeth Beisel.