‘Emotional’ Adam Peaty tears up missing the Olympic Gold by just 0.02 seconds in 100m breaststroke event

Adam Peaty won silver at the 100m Breaststroke event at the Paris Olympics.

‘Emotional’ Adam Peaty tears up missing the Olympic Gold by just 0.02 seconds in 100m breaststroke event

Adam Peaty gets emotional after missing out on gold (via Tom Jenkins/The Guardian and BBC Sport)

The Paris Olympics held the finals of the 100m breaststroke event on Sunday, 28th July. Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy clinched the gold medal, clocking in at 59:03. Commiserations went out to Great Britain’s Adam Peaty, who lost out on first place by only 0.02 seconds, making this race perhaps closer than any of its kind.

In an emotional interview with BBC after the race, Adam Peaty talked about the flurry of emotions going through his mind. He broke down during the interview with visible tears on his face. However, the 29-year-old clarified that he was not crying because of coming in second place but because of all the efforts that he had put in to get to this point in his career.

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Peaty mentioned that his 14-month-long journey before the Paris Olympics was not for a medal.

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I’m happy with a silver. It’s sport, I got blindsided, but it wasn’t meant to be. This journey, 14 months, it’s not for a medal, I define myself by my heart, what it’s made me feel and produce. It’s got the best out of me.
Adam Peaty with BBC Sport

Peaty is considered one of the best breaststroke swimmers in the world. He secured gold in the 100m breaststroke finals at the British Swimming Championship in 2022. Since then, he had set his mind on repeating the achievement at the Paris Olympics, which he unfortunately missed out on.

Adam Peaty opens up about missing out on third consecutive gold medal at the Olympics

Heading into Paris, Peaty was a two-time defending champion of the 100m breaststroke race. Clinching gold in the event would have made him the second man in history after Michael Phelps to win three straight Olympic Gold medals. The British swimmer got candid about missing out on the record in the post-race press conference.

Adam Peaty
Adam Peaty (via Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina)

Peaty felt that he had the gold medal during the last 15 meters of the race. However, the nature of sport was very up-and-down, something that all athletes could relate to.

I’m not going to define my whole career, in terms of the ups and the downs, by a medal. I’m just so happy to be among these incredible athletes.
Adam Peaty during the post-race interview
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The British swimmer was happy that he got second place. He believed that the gold went to an incredible guy who deserved it and won it in a fair manner.

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