News The USA has won every Olympic gold medal in the men's 400m individual medley since 1996 At Rio 2016, they will still be among the favourites for gold, but London 2012 champion Ryan Lochte won't be defending his title At the USA Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Nebraska, 22-year-old Chase Kalisz won the race in front of 14,000 fans, with 20-year-old Jay Litherland taking second place and the final qualifying spot for Rio ahead of Lochte Kalisz and Litherland are part of a new generation of swimmers from the USA who are pushing Olympic champions hard for a place in Rio   Lochte, gold in the event at London 2012 and bronze at Beijing 2008, touched the wall in Omaha in third place, a full second behind Litherland Lochte revealed after the race that he had been struggling with a groin injury “I had to go out faster than usual because I couldn’t use my legs in the breaststroke,” he said  “I did everything I could in that race, it just wasn’t enough Just got to forget about that and move forward ” The defeat does not mean that Lochte is out of Rio 2016 altogether The 31-year-old swimmer, who holds 11 Olympic medals including five golds, has signed up to five other events in Omaha, including the 200m freestyle, where he is seeded first   “I’m going to keep working on it day in and day out, and hopefully it gets better,” Lochte said “I thought about it this morning, about scratching, but I mean, it’s the Olympic trials If I had a broken leg, I’d still go out there and swim ” "Today is a new day," he said on Monday after advancing to the 200m freestyle semi-finals   Phelps bets on Lochte comeback Not since Sydney 2000 has there been an Olympic 400m individual medley without the participation of either Lochte or team-mate Michael Phelps Phelps, who won the event at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and came fourth at London 2012, said he expected Lochte to go on to claim a place in Rio at the Omaha trials   “He is somebody who will bounce back,” the 22-medal winning Olympian said “He’s got a full plate and a full schedule this week, and I would assume he would use this as motivation to get going ” Phelps, who is a training partner of Kalisz, said the success of the two youngsters in the race came as no surprise to him “I know Chase is very determined,” Phelps said “I’ve watched him, I train with him every day, and the kid works his butt off He’s like a brother to me “I wasn’t surprised with Jay,” he added “He’s like a shark in the water He knows how to rise to the occasion ”