Adam Peaty reveals what his son instructed him after his Olympic heartbreak

Adam Peaty revealed his son told him ‘I love you Daddy’ after his shock defeat at the Paris Olympics.

The Team GB star failed to defend his 100 metres breaststroke title as he lost to Italian underdog Nicolo Martinenghi by just 0.02sec.

After the race at La Defense Arena, a tearful Peaty – who shared the silver with American Nic Fink – met his three-year-old boy George, his girlfriend Holly Ramsay and mother Caroline.

Asked about his conversation with George, Peaty said: ‘He normally goes, “Daddy, are you the fastest boy?” and I would have said, “Not today”. But he just said, “I love you Daddy”, and that’s all I care about.

‘When I hugged George, as soon as I saw his curly hair, I was gone, I was crying. I feel like I’ve been stung by a bee because I feel so swollen in my face because I’ve been crying so much.

‘That’s all I do it for now. I did this for my son. These whole 14 months have been to show you can literally bottom of the bottom and come back and medal.

‘Any parent, anyone who has that love, it’s just a different type of love, something that swimming can’t give me any more.

‘Your whole perspective in life changes. My responsibility changes so much because of my son.’

Peaty was magnanimous in defeat, insisting his tears were not because he did not win a third successive gold medal, but because of how hard it has been to come back after experiencing depression last year.

‘It’s not sad at all,’ he said. ‘Anyone that has done sport, if you are willing to put yourself on the line every single time, there is no such thing as a loss.

‘People are already saying, “Are you happy with a silver?” and I’m like, “Yes”. This is my sixth Olympic medal and the 14-year-old that started out on this crusade would be thinking, “Six Olympic medals, three of them gold, still the world record holder in two events, you can’t beat that”.

‘It’s broken me this sport, but it’s also given me life, it’s given me everything I am. I am happy to stand here with not really any answers to what that performance is – but with a happy heart. That is all that matters.’

Peaty also revealed he woke up on Sunday morning with a sore throat. But he refused to use it as an excuse for his time in Sunday night’s final being slower than the 58.86sec he clocked in Saturday night’s semi-final.

‘I had a curveball this morning with my throat, but that is no excuse,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent but I don’t really care because I’ve won against people who weren’t feeling 100 per cent in the past. Tonight, it was my turn.

‘You can train eight years for something and not feel 100 per cent on the day. And not being 100 per cent costs you 0.02, and that’s just the way it is.

‘I’m not going to be someone who beats myself up over 0.02 because that’s not a healthy way to really reflect on the career. I’m not defining myself by a medal.’

Peaty was second at the halfway mark, behind his Chinese rival Haiyang Qin, who tested positive for a banned drug in 2021 but was cleared. Yet it was Martinenghi who came roaring back to beat the Brit by a fingernail in a time of 59.03sec, with Peaty tied with world champion Fink, while Qin finished back in seventh.

‘I got a little bit blindsided,’ added Peaty. ‘I touched the wall and I truly believed I got it. But I’m happy it went to an incredible guy and someone who has won it in a fair way.

‘I’m so happy to pass the baton to Nicolo because I’ve raced him for so long. I told Nicolo to enjoy it because you can’t beat waking up as Olympic champion next day. We knew it wasn’t about the times, it’s about who executes and I’m so happy for him.’

Peaty will return to the Paris pool later in the week to race in the men’s and mixed 4x100m relays.

‘Tomorrow is going to feel a bit like a hangover with all the emotion but I’m looking forward to the relays,’ he added.

Despite the near miss, Peaty’s performance caps a huge turnaround for the legendary athlete, just over a year since he took a break from swimming for mental health reasons.

Having won gold in the 100m breastroke 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 breakdown of his relationship in 2022 with Eirianedd Munro – who is the mother of his son, George – coupled with a battle with depression and alcoholism, led to Peaty hitting rock bottom.

In April 2023, Peaty withdrew from the British Swimming Championships and opened up on his mental health struggles, later revealing he had endured ‘three years of hell’ and that he was in a ‘self-destructive spiral’.

Peaty – who also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 – admitted that he ‘didn’t want to see a pool again’ after being ‘broken’ by the sport, as he turned to drinking and partying as an escape.

This came after he had previously taken a mental health break in the aftermath of the Commonwealth games, with his eight-year unbeaten streak in the pool also ending.

Add a broken foot and a facial gash after a bust-up with a team-mate and it’s safe to say it’s been a difficult few years for Peaty.

Reflecting on his journey to BBC Sport earlier this month, the 29-year-old said: ‘It all came crashing down. I came crashing down.

‘I didn’t take a break after the Olympics in 2021. I went straight into work, did a bit of dancing because I thought it’d be the right distraction and I broke my foot later that year.

‘That led me into 2023 and having a major, major burnout.’

Peaty missed the 2022 World Championships due to his foot injury, which led to him rushing back for the Commonwealth Games, where he struggled.

‘When I lost that 100m final I spiralled,’ he added. ‘I went quite aggressive. It is an Adam I don’t really recognise.

‘I went to Melbourne [for the short course World Championships four months later] and I blew up there because I didn’t get the result I wanted.

‘I was kind of pointing fingers. I didn’t really have the maturity to kind of get over that. I pretty much lost control of the whole ship.’

Peaty’s struggles came after he had also bravely opened up on his battles with depression and alcohol following the Rio Olympics in 2016. 

However, things have been looking up in recent times, with Peaty going public in his relationship with Holly Ramsay, daughter of celebrity chef Gordon, last June.

Holly is a model and influencer with more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and has previously similarly bravely opened up on her life and struggles with depression.

As part of this, Holly has her own podcast called ’21 & over’ where she has also discussed her sobriety, a move she took to boost her mental health. 

Peaty had met Holly when her younger sister Tilly appeared on the same series of Strictly Come Dancing as him in 2021. 

Meanwhile, Peaty further opened up on his mental health struggles to Mail Sport last June and explained how turning to Christianity helped him to turnaround 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.

‘It’s about being a better person. Not only being a better athlete and fulfilling my gift, but also being a better dad for George. There are so many other reasons. It gets quite deep. But it’s great to be a part of.’

Peaty also went onto explain how a candid conversation with a priest — namely the Olympic chaplain Ashley Null — helped him make sense of his mental health struggles, while gardening and penning his thoughts in a journal have also helped.

He added: ‘He said to me, “An Olympic gold medal is the coldest thing you will ever wear”. It feels so warm because you have achieved your goal, but at what cost?

‘Relationships end, your friends and family are on the back burner, even your own children have to be on the back burner.

‘As athletes, we expect a gold medal to fix all our problems because that’s the only thing we care about, in the sense of job outcome. 

‘But as soon as you realise it doesn’t fix anything, it can be the coldest thing because you have sacrificed so much. You have to make sure you address those issues.’ 

And, after embarking on his journey, Peaty was so close to a remarkable redemption act on Sunday, but he should still take great pride from his performance that has shown just how brave and talented an athlete the 29-year-old is.