100m Breaststroke runner up Adam Peaty tears up. The two times gold medallist congratulated Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi on the gold medal and opened up on his struggles leading up to the finals. Peaty shed “happy tears” after narrowly losing his third Olympic 100m breaststroke title, refusing to blame his sore throat.
Adam Peaty’s final time of 59.05 seconds was slower than his semi-final performance, but he maintained that he had no regrets about the outcome. Despite the disappointing result, Peaty chose to focus on the positive aspects and expressed contentment with his performance overall.
Why Adam Peaty shed tears after his silver win
After tying for silver with the US’s Nic Fink in a tightly contested race won by Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi from lane seven, Adam Peaty revealed he had been in tears. He clarified, however, that his emotions stemmed from pride in his comeback following burnout, excessive drinking, and a broken foot.
“I’m not crying because I have lost,” he said. “Because in my heart I have won. These are happy tears. If you’re willing to put yourself on the line every single time, I think there’s no such thing as a loss. And I’m so happy that the right man won.”
“This is my sixth Olympic medal, three of them gold. And I think the 14-year-old that started out on this crusade would have taken that. It’s broken me this sport, but it’s also given me life. It’s given me everything I am.” Peaty added.
Peaty and his 3 year old son
Adam Peaty became emotional once more when asked about his three-year-old son George’s reaction following the race. “Well, he normally goes: ‘Daddy, are you the fastest boy?’” replied Peaty. “But not today. ‘He just said: ‘I love you Daddy.’” Peaty admitted.
When asked about the race, Peaty said he had primarily concentrated on his main competitors, including the Chinese star Qin Haiyang.
“In my head, they were the two people to beat and I got a little bit blindsided. When I touched the wall I truly believed I got it. But I am almost an older man here now. I can’t have that relentless every single day without a sacrifice of some sort.” He gracefully admitted.
After the race Martinenghi hugged Peaty, before saying it was a “dream come true to be Olympic champion”. “I have a chain with seven on it because when I was younger I used to train in lane seven,” he said. “And this morning my coach said to me maybe it would make me lucky.”
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