Commonwealth Games: Adam Peaty to rediscover passion for the sport after first loss in eight years
Adam Peaty has said he needs to rediscover his passion for the sport after placing fourth in the Commonwealth Games men's 100m breaststroke competition.
The Staffordshire-born Olympic gold-medallist lost his first race in eight years on Sunday during Birmingham 2022.
Peaty comfortably made it into the quarter and semi-finals with the quickest time but narrowly missed on a medal in the final.
The three-time Commonwealth Games champion said he was still digesting the results of the final on Sunday night.
Peaty admitted he may have burdened himself with expectations on his comeback after winning gold in the men's 100m breaststroke 100m Toyko Summer Olympics last year, and from a broken foot in a training accident in May.
The Games were Peaty's first swimming competition since fracturing his foot earlier this year.
The 27-year-old also suggested whether his desire is as strong as it used to be, and if he remains committed to competing at the 2024 Olympics in France.
"Do I love the sport as much as I did? I don’t know."
The current 50m and 100m breaststroke world record holder said the defeat is "devastating".
Peaty said: "You back a lion into a corner, they’re going to bite. I’m backed into a corner now but I’m OK with that."
"It’s just as important in an athlete’s career to have these moments. You think do I want to be here? Do I love the sport as much as I did? I don’t know. Those questions, I have to address."
He adds: "I haven’t really had a winter block where I’ve reset. I haven’t even had a chance to know where I’m going, it’s almost like you get in a car without a destination."
"I’ve only been in the water for four weeks, I put way too much expectation on myself and now I’m still debriefing and will be over the next three or four weeks."
"Maybe it’s God’s will to get to this point to have this real low because it is a real low. Obviously, it was a devastating night for me."
The eight-time European Champion admitted he had just a couple of hours’ sleep due to struggling to unwind after finishing behind English teammate James Wilby, who won gold in the 100m breaststroke final with a time of 59.25 seconds.
Australia's Zac Stubblety-Cook and Sam Williamson placed second and third in Birmingham 2022 with times of 59.52 and 59.82 seconds.
The three-time Commonwealth Champion finished with a time of 59.86 seconds - four one-hundredths behind Williamson and three seconds outside his world record.
Earlier today (August 1st) Peaty qualified for the men's 50m breaststroke semi-finals after coming joint first in heats with 27.10 seconds.
The 50m Commonwealth Games gold medal is the only gold missing from his collection after finishing second in 2018 and 2014.
The first ever British swimmer to defend an Olympic title said he had not trained enough for the Games and plans to get in shape over winter.
Speaking after the men's 50m breaststroke heat, Peaty said he didn't warm up saying he was riled up from the defeat and would take it out in the pool.
"I didn’t really bother warming up, I had two hours’ sleep," he said.
"(Coach) Mel (Marshall) was like ‘do you want to do it?’ I was like I’m a f*****g fire. I’m going to turn up, do the race and go through the rounds."
"I turned up with an hour to go, put my suit on and sprinted. I found that love again, but maybe because I’ve got nothing to lose."
"I’m not looking for gold, I’m just going to look for my best possible swim."
“As sportspeople, we always think our results define us and the whole world sees us as these results."
"But I’ve still won every single championships, done all the world records, that hasn’t been taken away from me, I’ve just had one bad day in the office."
"I almost know what I need to do. I’m carrying way too much body weight, way too much muscle for the 100m, so I need to lose four kilograms. That’s just straight off my mind."
"But really it comes down to training, you can’t hide from the training and this year I just haven’t had enough of it."