American swimmer Nathan Adrian's name hasn't been on everyone's mind, the way that Michael Phelps' or Ryan Lochte's has. But he did something that even Lochte couldn't do this week: beat Yannick Agnel in a head-to-head race.
Adrian's time of 47.52 seconds in the men's 100-meter freestyle gave him his first individual gold medal, as he also beat James Magnussen of Australia, who came in second, and Brent Hayden of Canada.
Agnel, the 6'8 Frenchman who is on his way to becoming a dominant force at the London Games, was fourth, at 47.84. He remains one of the top medal-winning swimmers at this Olympics, with two golds and a silver.
A native of Bremerton, Wash., Adrian was on the U.S. men's 4x100m relay team that fell just short and lost the gold to the French this week, with Agnel anchoring his team.
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