Ning Zetao of China reacts after finishing the men's 100m freestyle semifinal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 9, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

RIO DE JANEIRO -  China's international sensation Ning Zetao, who became the first Asian man ever to win the 100m freestyle at the world championships in Kazan last year, failed to qualify for the men's 100m freestyle final at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Tuesday.

The world champion clocked in 48.37, though faster than his preliminary time of 48.57, and ranked 12th in the two groups of the semifinals, missing a chance to compete in the final.

Olympic champion Nathan Adrian of the United States powered through to the with the fastest time of 47.83 seconds on Tuesday after only just making it out of the heats.

Adrian came through in an outside lane to pip Australian Cameron McEvoy, who swum 47.93 and American Caeleb Dressel in 47.97.

In a tight second semifinal, Kyle Chalmers of Australia touched first in 47.88, ahead of Santo Condorelli of Canada who had the same time as McEvoy.

There were huge cheers from the home crowd in Rio when the scoreboard showed that Brazilian Marcelo Chierighini had taken the last spot for Wednesday's final in eighth place.