James Magnussen: Gold Medal Update for World Class Swimmer

James Magnussen was stunned into silence as he sat next to his teammates watching as the 4x100 meter relay came to an end. As the Aussies cheered on their final swimmer, Magnussen was quietly watching as France, the United States, Russia and then his home Australia completed the race. From overwhelming gold medal favorites to a disappointing fourth-place finish, Magnussen just watched as his team finished off of the medals.

This race was the first for Magnussen, who is widely considered one of the best swimmers in the world. Known by his teammates as "the Missile" for his incredible ability to just explode off of the blocks, the 20-year-old Magnussen came into this Olympics with gold medal hopes.

Magnussen became a name on the world circuit last year when he swam to a blistering 47.10 seconds in the 100 meter freestyle. His time was the fastest in the world this year and even opened up the question of if he could break Cesar Cielo's world record of 46.91 seconds.

If his swim in the relay however is any indication, then no, Magnussen won't break the record. He won't even win a medal.

It was shocking when the splits were announced. Not only was Magnussen the slowest of his team, but his time was more than a second off of his world championship time this year. He swam the lead-off leg of the relay and everyone expected the Missile would just take off, leaving everyone else in his dust and giving Australia a lead too insurmountable to overcome. 

Instead Magnussen faltered and had Australia a distant second behind the U.S. when he finished his leg of the race. Team USA's Nathan Adrian kept up with him every step of the way and even out-swam Magnussen in the last 50. At the time it looked like an incredible feat, like Adrian had the swim of his life, which he did. What wasn't known right away however was just how slow Magnussen really did swim.

The aftermath of the relay was thus: France celebrating a surprise gold, Team USA questioning the decision to swim Ryan Lochte and not Jason Lezak for the final leg and, of course, Australia, wondering just what happened to their sure thing.

After facing his own share of media criticism, Magnussen can finally let the results of the relay go. Of course it was devastating, but he has a gold medal to defend and a potential world record to break.

Magnussen has two individual races left to swim including the 100, which he still has got to be the favorite for going in. He has a great chance to win his first Olympic gold in this event but there is no doubt his relay swim could leave an opening for other competitors.

So despite going 0-1 in the gold medal chase, the always cocky and confident Magnussen has to shake this off. For the one who has been dubbed the heir apparent to Aussie great Ian Thorpe, Magnussen's time starts now. The gold medal chase continues with the heats of the 100 free tomorrow.