Chase Kalisz won gold with a time of 4:09.42, while Litherland finished just behind him with a time of 4:10:28. Brendon Smith of Australia won bronze with a time of 4:10.38.
This is the second Olympic medal for Kalisz, who won silver in the same event in 2016, and the first Olympic medal for Litherland. Kalisz is also set to compete in the 200-meter Individual Medley on July 28.
Team USA ended day one without a medal in the Summer Games for the first time since 1972.
The Americans competed in five of the seven events on Saturday. In the first medal event, China’s Yang Qian took the women’s 10-meter air rifle final gold, while Team USA competitor and event favorite Mary Tucker finished sixth.
World No. 1 Brady Ellison and teammate Mackenzie Brown, competing in the archery mixed team event, were eliminated after losing to Indonesia 5-4 in the first round.
Despite not reaching the podium on day one, it wasn’t all bad news as Team USA’s women’s water polo team notched a 25-4 victory over Japan, setting a then-Olympic record for goals in a game (25), margin of victory (21). However, Spain’s women’s polo team would break those records several hours later with a 29-4 victory over South Africa.
Also, the US women’s soccer team rebounded from their opening match loss with a dominating 6-1 victory over New Zealand. The Americans also won both of their 3×3 basketball matches, 17-10 against France and 21-9 against Mongolia. while the softball team remained unbeaten with a 2-0 win over Mexico.
