Nathan Adrian of the U.S. wins gold in 100-meter freestyle at London Olympics

Adrian said he would have been delighted to win a silver medal. The soft-spoken Adrian said he followed Phelps’ suggestion that the Americans let their results speak for themselves this time around, and he was ambivalent about whether the Australian trash talk had motivated him.

“Yes and no,” he said. “I honestly tried not to think about any of that. I think the best place for me is to be the fourth-grader on the playground, oblivious to it all.

“The weapons of mass destruction thing, if that’s what gets them fired up, awesome. I don’t think that is something I would necessarily label myself as.”