RIO DE JANEIRO - China's first male Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang made history for his country again on Monday, becoming the first Chinese to win the men's 200m freestyle gold.

The 24-year-old touched home in 1min 44.65sec, ahead of South African Chad le Clos (1:45.20).

American Conor Dwyer took bronze at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in 1:45.23.

Sun, a silver medallist in this event at the 2012 London Games, now has Olympic golds in three freestyle distances. He won the 400m and 1500m free titles in the British capital.

On Saturday, he failed to retain his 400m crown, finishing just 0.13sec behind Australia's Mack Horton to win silver.

But he put that disappointment aside, along with accusations by Horton that he is a "drug cheat".

Sun served a three-month ban in 2014 after testing positive for a banned stimulant he said was for a heart complaint.

"I tried not to get distracted by outside noise," he said. "I just tried to be myself. I was more relaxed than for the 400m and that helped me win gold."