Adam Peaty will compete at 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if 50m sprint is added - 'I will 100% dedicate myself'
Published 07/10/2024 at 23:29 GMT+1
Adam Peaty has opened the door to a potential pool return at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but said his decision "100%" hinges on whether a 50m breaststroke sprint is added to the event. Peaty told The Guardian that he would "dedicate" himself to the event if the IOC sanction its addition, while also speaking on his "ridiculous" near-miss for Olympic gold in Paris.
'There will be no three-peat' - Peaty takes silver in dramatic 100m breaststroke final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Two-time Olympic 100m breaststroke champion Adam Peaty has said he will "100% dedicate" himself to participating at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles if a 50m sprint race is added to the swimming programme.
After losing out on a gold medal by just 0.02s in the 100m breaststroke at the Paris Games in July, Peaty said he would take a break from the pool - leading to questions around the Team GB great's long-term swimming future.
But, in an interview with The Guardian, Peaty said his decision over whether to return to the Olympic stage rests upon whether a 50m sprint is added to the calendar in Los Angeles.
"I think the 50m sprint is a great opportunity for me,” he said. “If the 50m is part of that I will 100% dedicate myself to getting there. If the 50m isn’t part of that then it’s a big question mark. It’s a 50-50 decision.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in August that World Aquatics launched an attempt to convince the IOC to have more sprint events at the 2028 Games, a move that would be welcomed by Peaty, with the six-time Olympic medallist saying: "I can do that [50m] all day long".
When asked whether he would compete in both 50m and 100m breaststroke events, Peaty added: "I could, yeah. I’m a happy-go-lucky guy but that decision relies 100% on the 50m.
"If the 50m sprints for breaststroke, fly and backstroke, for both genders, are included I think they’ll compromise by maybe taking out some of the distance events.”
He continued: “The 100 requires a lot more training and aerobic fitness. That is more punishing. But it’s not impossible to do both. If I know there’s a 50m in 2028, that’s one I’m going to target. But I will also train for the 100 and see what we do there.
"For the 100 I would need to swim at least 9,000m a day. But if I just went for the 50m, I could drop my training to 5,000m or potentially even 4,000m a day.”
Peaty powered to 50m glory at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, winning gold for the first time at that distance.
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'I couldn't give it more' - Emotional Peaty reflects on silver medal in 100m breaststroke
Video credit: TNT Sports
'I DID EVERYTHING I COULD' - PEATY ON OLYMPIC SILVER
The obvious disappointment of Peaty's near miss in Paris was superseded by subsequent news that the 29-year-old almost immediately tested positive for Covid-19 after the race.
Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi pipped Peaty to first-place - finishing in 59.03s, over two seconds slower than the Team GB star's world record of 56.88s.
Peaty remains firm that he gave all he could under the trying conditions of illness, particularly in Covid-19's case, a virus which affects the respiratory system, but saw the bigger picture as he claimed silver with his children watching on.
"As time passes, more wisdom comes," he said. "I did everything I could with the cards I was dealt. But of course you have moments of: ‘What if I did this or that? ‘You’re a little disappointed because it’s 0.02 of a second.”
“It’s f****** ridiculous. But I couldn’t have delivered a better result with what I had. You can’t do much when your body is fighting illness. I really suffered because of that.
"But when I got my medal it was for Holly and George [his children] and I was like: ‘There’s nothing that could have replaced this feeling, ever.’ Forget all the medals and world records. That doesn’t define me. Being a father defines me. Being a husband, hopefully next year, defines me. Being a good person and having good relationships with people defines me.”
Peaty won back-to-back gold medals in astonishing fashion in the preceding Olympic Games, first scooping the individual triumph in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 before becoming the first British swimmer to retain an Olympic title - according to Team GB - with 100m breaststroke glory in Tokyo.
His impressive streak was broken in Paris, and he went on to explain how his run-in with Covid affected preparations before the race.
"Normally I could do 50m easily underwater to warm up my lungs. Because I had Covid, which I didn’t know at the time, I got to 15m on the morning of the final, and I was like: ‘I can’t breathe.’
"I was down to about 30% of what I am normally capable of. So once you put it in that context then you say: ‘Wow, actually I’m very blessed to have done what I did.’"
Still gracious despite his narrow miss with Olympic glory, Peaty told Eurosport after the race that he felt "true joy in every stroke, no matter what the scoreboard says".
He added: “I mean it could have gone the other way, it could have been a bronze medal by 0.01, so I think that as a man I just approach life very differently.
“I couldn’t give it more and I am emotional, but they are happy emotions and I think it tested me in ways where I can’t even comprehend."
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