Ryan Lochte
Ryan Lochte of the U.S. bites his gold medal for the men's 400-meter individual medley, which he won Saturday during the London 2012 Olympic Games. Reuters

The men's 200 meters freestyle promises to be one of the more competitive swimming events of the 2012 Olympics. Eight men will compete in the race, several of whom have already won gold medals this year.

China's Sun Yang enters the race with the best qualifying time of 1:45.61. As a result, the betting Web site Bovada as named Yang as the favorite to take home gold. He leads the way with 11/10 odds to finish first.

A victory would give Yang his second gold medal of the London Games. He has already won the 40m freestyle.

France's Yannick Agnel is the second favorite at 7/4. Ryan Lochte from the U.S. is right behind him at 5/2. Agnel helped France come from behind and defeat the U.S. in Sunday's 4x100 freestyle relay. Lochte came in first in the 400 individual medley.

Michael Phelps will not compete for the USA in the event. He excused himself from the race after qualifying for the event, giving Lochte a chance to race. Phelps has five more chances to win a gold medal after the opening weekend.

Lochte won the event at the World Championship last summer with a time of 1:44.44.

Germany's Paul Biederman is in contention. He set the world record in 2009 with a time of 1:42.00. Despite his previous time, he's considered somewhat of a longshot at 14/1.

South Korea's Tae-Hwan Park, Russia's Danila Izotov, Germany's Robbie Renwick and Australia's Thomas Fraser-Holmes will compete as well.

The 200m freestyle is set to begin at 2:43 p.m. ET. It can be seen on NBC. If you can't get to a television, you can watch a free live stream online here.

PREDICTION: Gold- Agnel, Silver- Yang, Bronze- Lochte

Gold Silver London Australia