He has never enjoyed the attention and fame that Adam Peaty has had and his answer when recently asked who would win a fight between the two seemed to say it all. “Adam, for sure,” he said. “Look at the size of his hands, he makes me look like a child.”
It was typical of Ben Proud, an introspective, intense and very humble member of the British team, for whom the Olympics have been something of a nightmare as he has tried to reach his peak for years.
Fourth in Rio eight years ago, fifth in Tokyo, the quest for an Olympic medal had become so agonising that Proud had begun to fall out of love with swimming and considered giving it all up.
It wasn’t the medal he would have ideally hoped for, but last night his persistence and fortitude were rewarded as he claimed silver in the 50-meter freestyle race that defines the fastest swimmer on the planet.
He faced rabid partisanship but edged out Frenchman Flourent Manaudou, who had spent the minutes before the race whipping the crowd into a frenzy of support.
Team GB’s Ben Proud won silver in the men’s 50m freestyle final at Paris 2024 on Friday night.
Londoner Proud, 29, celebrated his achievement by punching the air with a clenched fist.
Proudly pictured (right) congratulating Olympic champion Cameron McEvoy (left) after the final.
We didn’t see the impressive start that has become a trademark of Proud, but what followed when he hit the water was the smoothest and most excellent hydrodynamic technique as he moved forward.
There was no panic. There was no water kicking up in a frantic chase after his rival, Australian Cameron McEvoy, who took the lead from the start and never looked back. It was a testament to the work Proud has put in in training outside the pool – and in the pool too – to develop consistent rhythmic stroke action.
“It’s not about speed,” he said earlier this year. Not the sort of remark you’d expect from a man attempting what will likely be his final race over the sprinter’s distance at an Olympic Games.
His time of 21.30, five hundredths of a second behind McEvoy’s, was excellent and the margin of defeat against a gold medallist was once again agonising for the Brits. McEvoy’s time of 21.25 had become something of a holy grail for Proud.
It was another extraordinary night at the pool and all over Paris because the man who is cheered on with the tireless singing of ‘León’ is like in this building.
The start of the 400m decathlon heats at the Stade de France was delayed to allow Leon Marchand to compete for his fourth gold in the 200m individual medley relay and the stadium went wild, with renditions of ‘Allez les Blues’ playing as footage of Marchand’s race was beamed onto stadium screens.
Back in this arena, Marchand won, of course in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, gradually extending his early lead and winning in 1:54.06, a third Olympic record to add to the two he set in under two hours in his final on Wednesday night, and a tenth of a second faster than Michael Phelps’ best.
But it was also a night for another of Britain’s indefatigable swimmers, eclipsed from the public eye by Peaty’s extraordinary exploits. Duncan Scott, fourth in the second round against Marchand, fought another tireless race to secure silver. The medal means he overtakes Chris Hoy and becomes Britain’s joint-second most decorated Olympian, alongside Sir Bradley Wiggins. Only Sir Jason Kenny has more. It would be fair to say Scott is the most underrated British Olympian of all time.
This photo of Proud was taken with an underwater robotic camera at the Paris La Defense Arena
Peaty’s chance of competing in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final today remains a possibility, despite missing the heats in which the British team qualified fifth fastest for the final.
Peaty, part of the line-up that helped Team GB win the opening event at Tokyo 2020, tested positive for Covid on Monday morning, hours after winning silver in the men’s 100m breaststroke final on Sunday. His place went to Commonwealth Games gold medallist James Wilby, who could now be dropped to make room for Peaty today as Team GB are allowed to alter their line-up, as is the case in all relay races.
But Proud deserves some of the spotlight now. He, the veteran of the Great Britain swimming team at 29, said ahead of these Olympics. “I’m just trying to love the sport,” he said ahead of his fourth chance to compete at the Olympics. “After the last Olympics I said I can’t chase Olympic medals anymore. It’s too stressful. So right now, I’m just enjoying the process, working day in and day out.”
In 2018, when she won the world, Commonwealth and European titles in the short sprint distance, she had the world at her feet, but those days seemed to be fading away over the distance. Her career best time of 21.11 seemed a distant memory.
He considered retirement. He was persuaded to do so and returned to the Gloria performance centre in Turkey, which he credits for much of the work that has helped him keep going. “I’m lucky to be in this position, if I retired without a medal, that would be fine,” he reflected. Now he has one.