Sun Yang, who won the gold in the 400m men's freestyle final with a near-world record time, was in tears as he spoke to reporters following his victory.

"The feeling is very nice, it's beautiful," Sun said. "It's a big dream come true for me.

"I have to [say thank you] to my coach, my parents, my friends and all the people that help me.

"Because it's the Olympic Games, I felt a little bit nervous at the start, then at the end, I felt that I could get a medal."

Park Tae-hwan, who was reinstated to the final on appeal after being disqualified for a false start in winning his morning heat, finished in 3:42.06 while American Peter Vanderkaay came third in 3:44.69.

"I swam really well, it was a little bit of a pity that I came second," Park said.

"I really regret losing my Olympic title, but there was a lot going on for me this morning, so I feel a little bit bad."