Adam Peaty narrowly missed out on Olympic victory when he won silver in the 100m breaststroke final in Paris.
Peaty, who has endured a tumultuous personal ordeal in recent years, came so close to winning a third consecutive gold medal in the Olympic breaststroke that it was Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi who claimed victory on Sunday night.
Peaty was close to becoming the second man after Michael Phelps to win the same swimming event three times at the Olympics.
“It’s been a long time,” Peaty said after the race, bursting into tears.
‘I did everything I could. Not for the end goal, but for the process.
Adam Peaty narrowly missed out on a third consecutive gold medal in the Olympic breaststroke in Paris
Peaty’s adventures come after he endured “three years of hell” after suffering from depression and alcoholism following a difficult split from his long-term girlfriend, with whom he has a son.
In 2022, Peaty split from his Eirianedd Munro (left) after three years together
The three-time Olympic champion is now in a relationship with Holly Ramsay, the daughter of TV chef Gordon
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‘In my heart I have already won. I am not crying at all because I am second. These are tears of joy.
“I’m almost an older man here now. I can’t have that relentless pursuit without a sacrifice. It’s very difficult to compete with the young ones.”
Peaty’s performance marks a huge turnaround for the four-time Olympic swimming champion, more than a year after he took a break from the sport due to mental health issues.
After winning gold in the 100m breaststroke and 4x100m medley relay in Tokyo in 2016 and 2020, Peaty continued to chase an impressive record in the sport, going undefeated for eight years, from 2014 to 2022.
The 2022 breakdown of his relationship with Eirianedd Munro – with whom he has a son – combined with his battle with depression and alcoholism, saw Peaty hit rock bottom.
In April 2023, Peaty withdrew from the British Swimming Championships and spoke openly about his mental health issues, later revealing that he had spent “three years in hell” and was in a “self-destructive spiral”.
Peaty, who also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, admitted he ‘didn’t want to be in a swimming pool’ after being ‘broken’ by the sport, turning to drinking and partying to escape.
This came after he had previously taken a mental break following the Commonwealth Games, which also ended his eight-year unbeaten run in the pool.
Add to that a broken foot and a cut to his face after a fight with a team-mate and it’s fair to say it’s been a tough few years for Peaty.
Looking back 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 2021 Olympics. I went straight to work and did a little bit of dancing because I thought that would be the right distraction. Later that year I broke my foot.
‘That led to me having a huge burnout in 2023.’
Peaty missed the 2022 World Championships with a foot injury, forcing him to rush for the Commonwealth Games, where he struggled.
“When I lost that 100m final I went into a tailspin,” he added. “I was going quite aggressively. It’s an Adam I don’t really recognise.
I went to Melbourne [for the short course World Championships four months later] and I exploded there because I wasn’t getting the result I wanted.
“I was kind of pointing the finger. I didn’t really have the maturity to get over that. I pretty much lost control of the whole ship.”
Peaty hit a rough patch after courageously discussing his battle with depression and alcohol following the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Peaty has previously spoken openly about how he hit rock bottom and took a break from swimming
Peaty appeared in public with Holly last year and they have been seen regularly at events together
Holly is one of five children of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and is an influencer and model
However, things seem to be looking up lately after Peaty announced last June that he was in a relationship with Holly Ramsay, the daughter of chef Gordon.
Holly is a model and influencer with over 300,000 followers on Instagram. She has previously spoken in a similarly candid manner about her life and her struggle with depression.
Holly has her own podcast called ’21 & Over’, where she also talks about her sobriety, a measure she took to improve her mental health.
Peaty met Holly when her younger sister Tilly appeared on the same series of Strictly Come Dancing as him in 2021.
Meanwhile, Peaty spoke to Mail Sport in June last year about his mental health struggles, explaining how his Christian faith helped him break the “destructive spiral” he was in.
“I go to church every Sunday,” the British swimmer revealed. “It’s been like that for the last few months and it’s definitely helped.
“It’s about being a better person. Not just being a better athlete and fulfilling my gift, but also being a better father to George. There’s so many other reasons. It goes very deep. But it’s great to be a part of it.”
Peaty also explained how a candid conversation with a priest, Olympic chaplain Ashley Null, helped him understand his mental health issues, while gardening and writing down his thoughts in a diary also helped.
He added: ‘He said to me, “An Olympic gold medal is the coldest thing you’ll ever wear.” It feels so warm because you’ve achieved your goal, but at what cost?
‘Relationships end, your friends and family fade into obscurity, even your own children fade into obscurity.
‘As athletes we expect a gold medal to solve all our problems because that’s all we care about, in terms of the result of our work.
“But once you realize it doesn’t solve anything, it can be the coldest thing because you’ve sacrificed so much. You have to make sure you address those issues.”
Besides his partner Holly, his three-year-old son George, who watched from the stands in Paris, is a major motivation for Peaty.
Peaty is also motivated by his three-year-old son George, who was present in Paris
Peaty’s silver medal marked an impressive turnaround just over a year after he took a break
Peaty explained during a pre-Olympics speech: ‘I had a FaceTime call with George and he said, “Dad, are you the fastest boy?”
‘And that is actually my goal now: to prove that I am the fastest boy for my son.
“I want to prove that you can come back from the lowest point of your career and turn it around in 14 months, which is a very short time frame.”
And after so many sacrifices, ‘fastest boy’ Peaty came close to a remarkable act of redemption on Sunday, but he can still be proud of his achievement.