Though they didn't manage to reach their ultimate goal of a gold medal, Michael Phelps and Team USA collected a much-needed silver medal on Sunday in the men's 4x100m relay.
The Americans posted a time of 3:10.38 to take second, which was slightly slower than the world record time Phelps and company in Beijing in 2008. The same French team that put forth the best qualifying time earlier in the week ended up taking home the gold medal with a time of 3:09.93, while Russia (3:11.41) narrowly edged Australia (3:11.63) for the bronze.
The medal marked the first of the 2012 games for Phelps, who finished in a disappointing fourth place in the 400m individual medley on Saturday afternoon. Still with plenty of chances to rack up his first gold medal in London, Phelps will next take the pool on Monday for heats in the 200m butterfly event.
For more coverage of local athletes at the Olympics, stay with this StoryStream. For more Summer Games coverage, head over to SB Nation's dedicated Olympic hub.