Adam Peaty cried ‘happy tears’ despite coming second to Nicolo Martinenghi in the Men’s 100m breaststroke at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. Team GB star Peaty was going for a third consecutive gold medal in his specialist event after fighting his way back to the pinnacle of the sport, but he fell 0.02 short as Italy clinched top spot.
Peaty’s time of 59.05 seconds was more than two seconds shy of his personal best but still enough to take joint-second with American Nic Fink. Germany’s Melvin Imoudu took the bronze, with Peaty’s big rival, Qin Haiyang, finishing down in seventh.
A gripping second 50m of the race saw the leading competitors strategically trying to time their last stroke perfectly. Martinenghi managed to do just that, and in the end, that made the difference as Peaty missed out by the slimmest of margins.
“It’s been a very long way back,” Peaty, who has overcome mental health struggles, injuries and a split from the mother of his child, told the BBC. “I gave my absolute all there. It’s not about the end goal, it’s all about the process. It doesn’t matter what it says on the (timings) board – in my heart, I’ve already won.”
Pick up your ultimate guide to the Olympics! Going for Gold provides the day-by-day rundown of what’s on and when. Click here to buy.
With tears beginning to flow, Peaty continued: “I’m not crying because I’ve come second. I’m crying because it’s taken so much to get here. It’s just incredibly hard to win it once and win it again and win it again. I’ve tried to find new ways to do it.
“Everything I’ve done to this point has happened for a reason, and I’m so happy I can race against the best in the world. It’s not crying because I lost, in my heart I’ve won. These are happy tears. I said to myself I’d give my absolute best every day. I have and you can’t be upset about that.
“This event has changed so much. As a man now, I can’t have that relentless pursuit every day without a sacrifice. It’s very hard to compete with the younger ones. My mind is on the relays now and trying to do my best for the team.
“I know in my heart that I couldn’t have done more. The Olympics are about who can perform at that moment, and I was just one or two per cent out. I’m a very religious man and I asked God to just show my heart. This is my heart, I couldn’t have done more. Six Olympic medals, right? You can’t stick your nose up at that.”
