MARTIN BUREAU/AFP/Getty ImagesIt's safe to say Michael Phelps' last stint in the Olympics is not going as smoothly as he had hoped thus far.
The swimming legend, who gave his training performance a "B-plus, A-minus" right before the games began, fell short during his highly anticipated duel with teammate Ryan Lochte, coming in fourth place in the 400-meter individual medley Saturday night.
Lochte dominated the race, winning by more than three seconds, to take home the gold.
"It was just a crappy race," Phelps told NBC. "I felt fine the first 200, then I don't know. They just swam a better race than me, a smarter race than me, and were better prepared than me. That's why they're on the medal stand."
This was the first time since the 2000 Olympics that Phelps didn't win at least a bronze medal in an Olympic race.
"I think I'm kind of in shock right now," Lochte told NBC. "I know [Phelps] gave it everything he had. That's all you can ask for."
Phelps, who has 16 Olympic medals, was trying to become the first male swimmer to win the same individual event at three straight Olympics.
All is not lost though for the famed athlete, who still has three more chances to accomplish that feat before the Olympics ends at the 200-meter individual medley, and the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly match-ups.
And he appears to still be optimistic in spite of a shaky start to the Games.
"It's frustrating, that's all I can say. It's pretty upsetting," Phelps went on. "The biggest thing now is to try to look forward. I have a bunch of other races, and hopefully we can finish a lot better than how we started."