Adam Peaty broke down in tears after a shock defeat in the 100 metres breaststroke – but admitted: ‘In my heart I’ve already won.’
The British swimming superstar fell agonisingly short in his bid to win his third successive Olympic title, with Italian underdog Nicolo Martinenghi beating him by just 0.02sec.
Peaty shared the silver with American world champion Nic Fink after they both clocked 59.05sec, while his Chinese rival Haiyang Qin was back in seventh.
The 29-year-old then choked up in interviews as he recalled just how hard it has been for him to even make it to Paris, having taken time out of the sport last year after suffering depression.
‘It’s been a very long way back,’ said Peaty. ‘I gave it my absolute all there. It doesn’t matter what the time says, or the result, because in my heart I have already won.
Adam Peaty narrowly missed out on a third straight Olympic breaststroke gold medal in Paris
Peaty was beaten by Italian Nicolo Martinenghi (C) by an extremely narrow 0.02 seconds
Despite missing out on a third straight gold in the 100m breastroke, Peaty was full of pride
He broke down in tears in his post-race interview, but insisted that they were ‘happy tears’
Peaty was later seen greeting partner Holly Ramsay (right) and son George in the stands, with the 29-year-old again breaking down in tears after giving his son an emotional hug
Peaty’s exploits come after he endured ‘three years of hell’ after suffering from depression and alcoholism following the difficult split from his long-term girlfriend who he has a son with
‘I’m not crying because I’ve come second. I am crying because it just took so much to get here. These are happy tears because I have given it my absolute best every single day and I can’t be upset about that.
‘It’s just incredibly hard. To win it once, and to win it again, and to try and win it again.
‘Everything I have done to this point has happened for a reason, and I am so happy I can race the best in the world and come second.
‘I am almost an older man here now. I can’t have that relentless pursuit every single day without a sacrifice of some sort.
‘It comes in many ways, my timing, my energy, my relationships. It is very hard to compete with the younger ones, but I am so happy with that because in my heart I couldn’t have done more.’
Peaty had qualified fastest for the final but got a slow start and trailed Qin at the halfway mark. But Martinenghi – who won the bronze behind Peaty at Tokyo three years ago – came roaring back in the final 50m to beat the Brit by a fingernail.
‘I woke up this morning with something on my neck,’ added Peaty – who was inches away from becoming just the second man after Michael Phelps to win the same swimming event at three Olympics.
‘But these are not excuses, these are just things athletes have to go through to find a way.
‘To see Martinenghi win makes me so happy for him. I have raced him for a long time and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I’ve still got six Olympic medals.’
Peaty was later seen greeting partner Holly Ramsay and son George in the stands, with the 29-year-old again breaking down in tears after giving his son an emotional hug.
Despite the near miss, Peaty’s performance caps a huge turnaround for the legendary athlete, just over a year since he took a break from swimming for mental health reasons.
Having won gold in the 100m breastroke in 2016 and 2020 – along with the 4x100m mixed medley relay in Tokyo – Peaty continued to enjoy a formidable record at the top of the sport, remaining unbeaten for eight years between 2014 and 2022.
In 2022, Peaty separated from his Eirianedd Munro (left) after three years together
The three-time Olympic champion is now dating Holly Ramsay – daughter of TV chef Gordon
Peaty and Ramsay shared a kiss after his silver medal as she showed her support for him
She was joined in the crowd at the Paris La Defence Arena by Peaty’s son George, three
However, the breakdown of his relationship in 2022 with Eirianedd Munro – who is the mother of his son, George – coupled with a battle with depression and alcoholism, led to Peaty hitting rock bottom.
In April 2023, Peaty withdrew from the British Swimming Championships and opened up on his mental health struggles, later revealing he had endured ‘three years of hell’ and that he was in a ‘self-destructive spiral’.
Peaty – who also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 – admitted that he ‘didn’t want to see a pool again’ after being ‘broken’ by the sport, as he turned to drinking and partying as an escape.
This came after he had previously taken a mental health break in the aftermath of the Commonwealth games, with his eight-year unbeaten streak in the pool also ending.
Add a broken foot and a facial gash after a bust-up with a team-mate and it’s safe to say it’s been a difficult few years for Peaty.
Reflecting on his journey to BBC Sport earlier this month, the 29-year-old said: ‘It all came crashing down. I came crashing down.
‘I didn’t take a break after the Olympics in 2021. I went straight into work, did a bit of dancing because I thought it’d be the right distraction and I broke my foot later that year.
‘That led me into 2023 and having a major, major burnout.’
Peaty missed the 2022 World Championships due to his foot injury, which led to him rushing back for the Commonwealth Games, where he struggled.
‘When I lost that 100m final I spiralled,’ he added. ‘I went quite aggressive. It is an Adam I don’t really recognise.
‘I went to Melbourne [for the short course World Championships four months later] and I blew up there because I didn’t get the result I wanted.
‘I was kind of pointing fingers. I didn’t really have the maturity to kind of get over that. I pretty much lost control of the whole ship.’
Peaty’s struggles came after he had also bravely opened up on his battles with depression and alcohol following the Rio Olympics in 2016.
However, things have been looking up in recent times, with Peaty going public in his relationship with Holly Ramsay, daughter of celebrity chef Gordon, last June.
Holly is a model and influencer with more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and has previously similarly bravely opened up on her life and struggles with depression.
Peaty has previously opened up on how he hit rock bottom and took a break from swimming
Peaty went public with Holly last year and they’ve regularly been seen at events together
Holly is one of five of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s children and is an influencer and model
As part of this, Holly has her own podcast called ’21 & over’ where she has also discussed her sobriety, a move she took to boost her mental health.
Peaty had met Holly when her younger sister Tilly appeared on the same series of Strictly Come Dancing as him in 2021.
Meanwhile, Peaty further opened up on his mental health struggles to Mail Sport last June and explained how turning to Christianity helped him to turnaround the ‘destructive spiral’ he was in.
‘I go to church every Sunday,’ the British swimmer revealed. ‘It’s been the last few months and it’s definitely helped.
‘It’s about being a better person. Not only being a better athlete and fulfilling my gift, but also being a better dad for George. There are so many other reasons. It gets quite deep. But it’s great to be a part of.’
Peaty also went onto explain how a candid conversation with a priest — namely the Olympic chaplain Ashley Null — helped him make sense of his mental health struggles, while gardening and penning his thoughts in a journal have also helped.
He added: ‘He said to me, “An Olympic gold medal is the coldest thing you will ever wear”. It feels so warm because you have achieved your goal, but at what cost?
‘Relationships end, your friends and family are on the back burner, even your own children have to be on the back burner.
‘As athletes, we expect a gold medal to fix all our problems because that’s the only thing we care about, in the sense of job outcome.
‘But as soon as you realise it doesn’t fix anything, it can be the coldest thing because you have sacrificed so much. You have to make sure you address those issues.’
Along with partner Holly, another major motivation for Peaty is be his three-year-old son George, who was watching on in the stands in Paris.
Peaty is also motivated by his three-year-old son George, who was in attendance in Paris
Peaty’s silver medal marked an impressive turnaround just over a year after taking a break
Speaking before the Olympics, Peaty explained: ‘I had a FaceTime call with George and he said, “Daddy are you the fastest boy?”.
‘And that’s kind of my purpose now – to prove that I’m the fastest boy to my son.
‘I want to prove that you can come back from potentially the lowest of the lows of my whole career and that you can turn it around within 14 months, which is a very short time frame.’
And, after sacrificing so much, Peaty was so close to a remarkable redemption act on Sunday, but he should still take great pride from his performance that has shown just how brave and talented an athlete the 29-year-old is.
