Adam Ramsay-Peaty fought back tears after winning bronze in the Commonwealth Games 100m breaststroke final in Glasgow.
The three-time Olympic champion finished third at Tollcross International Centre in his specialist event. Australia’s Sam Williamson won gold in 59.17 seconds, while Jersey teenager Filip Nowacki took silver in 59.34.
Adam Ramsay-Peaty is a three-time Olympic champion and one of Britain’s most successful breaststroke swimmers.
- Olympic gold medals: Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 in the 100m breaststroke, plus a relay gold.
- World titles: multiple gold medals across the 50m and 100m breaststroke at World Championships.
- European titles: multiple gold medals in his specialist breaststroke events.
- Commonwealth record: he has been one of Team England’s standout swimmers across previous Games cycles.
- Specialism: 50m and 100m breaststroke, where he has regularly ranked among the world’s fastest swimmers.
Ramsay-Peaty, 31, raced with a broken finger on his right hand. Even so, he looked devastated by the result.
He said: “In a final you want to give your fastest time. I’m not really sure why it wasn’t.
“It’s been two years since I’ve done heat-semis-final, so maybe it’s just an adjustment. It’s too early to tell what that event is capable of at this age now. But I’m a fighter.
“I do enjoy a scrap, but I lost a scrap this time, in the last 25 metres, and that is sport.
“For some reason, the Commonwealths are just that humble reminder. I go faster at champs in April, then go slower when I’ve got an actual real big cycle. It’s very raw.
I feel like I deserve more.”
Why Adam Ramsay-Peaty could not hide his pain
The bronze clearly hurt. Adam Ramsay-Peaty then opened up about the toll of the past year and struggled to hold back tears.
He said: “It’s hard because I know how hard I work. I know the [bleep] I’ve been through. No fault of my own. It does take a toll. The choices I’ve made over the last few months have been hard ones.
“But I’m happy at the same time that I can get here. I didn’t quit at the Paris Olympics. I deserved more. I [bleeping] work for it.”
He admitted there were still “a lot of unanswered questions” after the race. Then he summed up the brutal swings of elite sport.
He said: “But that is sport. It can break you. It can make you.
You can have highs to highs and lows to lows.”
What Adam Ramsay-Peaty said about family strain and abuse
Ramsay-Peaty also spoke about life away from the pool. He said public scrutiny and online abuse have piled on the pressure.
He said: “It’s about ignoring most of the rubbish you read about me online. You don’t know who I am.
“People who comment have got to look at themselves in the mirror – you cannot hurt me.
“It’s about my family, and that does come at a cost – being able to ignore that, and being able to focus on my job.”
He also brought his family into the moment. He said: “My wife is always going to be proud of me. As a father, it doesn’t matter if you come home with a gold – as long as you come home with a teddy, which I did.”
He added: “The emotion is something I’m always going to carry. I’m never going to be afraid to show weakness.
“Because it’s so important for making stronger people, making stronger men, stronger fathers, husbands.”
After the race, he kissed the stomach of his wife, Holly Ramsay-Peaty, with the couple expecting their first child together. He also has a child from a previous relationship.
Adam Ramsay-Peaty has spoken publicly in recent years about balancing elite sport with family life.
- He is married to Holly Ramsay-Peaty.
- The couple are expecting their first child together.
- He also has a child from a previous relationship.
- Ramsay-Peaty has previously said fatherhood changed his perspective away from the pool.
- He has also spoken about the emotional demands of top-level competition alongside pressures in his personal life.
The bronze still hurt badly for Adam Ramsay-Peaty. He said: “This cycle especially, I’m like, [bleep], how have I worked this hard at this age? And then you get a result like that. I’m better than that.
“I can’t really put in where it went wrong. Maybe it’s just an off-swim. Or maybe it’s just because I’ve been two years out of the championship heats and semi-finals. But it does hurt.”
Read more: Adam Peaty details ‘unimaginable pain’ in BBC Breakfast appearance amid ‘feud’ with his family