Adam Peaty came close to completing a remarkable journey to Olympic glory by winning silver in the 100m breaststroke final in Paris.
Peaty, who has endured a tumultuous personal experience in recent years, came very close to securing his third consecutive Olympic breaststroke gold when Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi claimed victory on Sunday night.
Peaty came within inches of becoming only the second man after Michael Phelps to win the same swimming event at three Olympics.
“It’s been a long road back,” Peaty said after the race as she broke down in tears.
‘I gave it my all. I did the best I could. It’s not about the end goal, it’s about the process.
Adam Peaty almost won his third consecutive Olympic breaststroke gold medal in Paris
Peaty’s exploits 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 dating Holly Ramsay, daughter of TV chef Gordon Ramsay.
In my heart, I’ve already won. I’m not crying because I came second. These are tears of happiness.
“I’m almost an old man now. I can’t continue this relentless quest without sacrifice. It’s very difficult to compete with the younger ones.”
Peaty’s performance caps a major turnaround for the legendary athlete, just over a year after he took a break from swimming for mental health reasons.
Having won gold in the 100m breaststroke 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.
However, the breakup of his relationship in 2022 with Eirianedd Munro (with whom he has a son), coupled with a battle with depression and alcoholism, led Peaty to hit rock bottom.
In April 2023, Peaty withdrew from the British Swimming Championships and spoke about her mental health struggles, later revealing that she had endured “three years of hell” and was in a “self-destructive spiral”.
Peaty, who also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, admitted he “never wanted to look at a swimming pool again” after feeling “gutted” by the sport as he turned to drinking and partying as a form of escape.
This came after he had previously taken a mental health break following the Commonwealth Games, and his eight-year unbeaten streak in the pool also ended.
Add to that a broken foot and a cut to his face after a fight with a teammate, and it’s safe to say it’s been a tough few years for Peaty.
Reflecting on his trip to BBC Sports Earlier this month, the 29-year-old said: “Everything fell apart. I broke down.
‘I didn’t take a break after the 2021 Olympics. I went straight to work, did a bit of dancing because I thought it would be the right distraction, and broke my foot later that year.
“That led me to 2023 and suffering from very, very great exhaustion.”
Peaty missed the 2022 World Championships due to his foot injury, forcing him to rush back for the Commonwealth Games, where he struggled.
“When I lost the 100m final, I lost control,” he added. “I got quite aggressive. It’s an Adam I don’t quite recognise.”
‘I went to Melbourne (for the World Short Course Championships four months later) and I exploded there because I didn’t get the result I wanted.
“I was pointing the finger at others. I wasn’t mature enough to overcome it. I practically lost control of the entire ship.”
Peaty’s troubles came after he also bravely spoke about his battles with depression and alcohol following the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Peaty has previously spoken about how he hit rock bottom and took a break from swimming.
Peaty publicly dated Holly last year and they have been regularly seen together at events.
Holly is one of five children of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and is an influencer and model.
However, things have improved in recent times, when Peaty went public with his relationship with Holly Ramsay, daughter of celebrity chef Gordon, last June.
Holly is a model and influencer with over 300,000 followers on Instagram and has previously been equally brave about her life and struggles with depression.
As part of this, Holly has her own podcast called ’21 & over’ where she has also spoken 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 further about his mental health struggles with Mail Sport last June, explaining how converting to Christianity helped him turn around 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 me.”
“It’s about being a better person. Not just about being a better athlete and fulfilling my talent, but also about being a better father to George. There are so many other reasons. It’s a very deep thing, but it’s great to be a part of it.”
Peaty also explained how a heart-to-heart with a priest, namely Olympic chaplain Ashley Null, helped him make sense of his mental health struggles, while gardening and journaling also helped.
She added: ‘He told 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 price?
‘Relationships end, your friends and family take a backseat, even your own children have to take a backseat.
‘As athletes, we expect a gold medal to solve all our problems because that’s all we care about in terms of our work results.
“But as soon as you realize it doesn’t solve anything, you can feel bad because you’ve sacrificed a lot. You have to make sure you address those issues.”
Along with his partner Holly, another big motivation for Peaty is his three-year-old son, George, who was watching from the stands in Paris.
Peaty is also motivated by his three-year-old son, George, who was present in Paris.
Peaty’s silver medal marked a stunning turnaround just over a year after taking a break.
Speaking ahead of the Olympics, Peaty explained: ‘I had a FaceTime call with George and he said, “Dad, are you the fastest guy?”
“And that’s my goal now: to prove to my son that I’m the fastest guy.
“I want to prove that it is possible to recover from the lowest point in my career and that I can turn things around in 14 months, which is a very short period of time.”
And, after sacrificing so much, ‘the fastest guy’ Peaty came very close to a remarkable act of redemption on Sunday, but should still be very proud of his performance which has shown just how brave and talented the 29-year-old is.