France's Alain Bernard will not defend Olympic title in 100m freestyle

DUNKIRK, France (AP) -- Olympic champion Alain Bernard won't get to defend his 100-meter freestyle title at the London Games after finishing fifth at the French swimming championships on Thursday.

Bernard needed to finish in the top two places to qualify, but he fell behind at the end as Yannick Agnel won in 48.02 seconds. Fabien Gilot finished second in 48.38 to also book his place. Bernard timed 48.92.

The 28-year-old Bernard is still expected to compete for France in the 4x100 relay in London. He was on the team that won the silver medal four years ago at Beijing.