Adam Ramsay-Peaty claimed he faces the toughest challenge of his career to get back into medal contention for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The 31-year-old broke down in tears after finishing third in the men’s 100m breaststroke final, having held the world record since 2015.
Britain’s iconic swimmer will have another shot at gold over 50m on Monday night, having qualified second on his semi-final on Sunday evening, and he is desperate to prove that time has not caught up with him.
‘It’s been hard,’ said Ramsay-Peaty after the 100m final. ‘There have been a multitude of things at play over the last few years — burnout, breaking my foot, fighting against something that you love.
‘Coming back to where I am now and making the decision to go for LA, I think this is going to be the hardest climb I’ve ever faced and the hardest test. It’s really hard to see the summit because it’s so hard. I don’t think anyone understands.’
Ramsay-Peaty’s wife, Holly – the daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay – has been in Glasgow to watch the races. Fatherhood has shifted the breast-stroker’s priorities but he does not plan to retire before the next Olympics.
Adam Ramsay-Peaty has said getting back into Olympic medal contention is ‘the hardest climb I’ve ever faced’
‘There are just a lot of personal and professional things that I need to pull together and work out what’s important, and what the long-term goal is for my happiness and for my immediate family’s happiness as well,’ he added.
‘When your world record is three seconds away, we’ve got to seriously ask what’s going wrong because that’s not me. We need to look at it, interrogate it, look at the data, and ask whether it was an issue with race pace, fitness, or something else.
‘I don’t think it was fitness, but there are a lot of components that make us swim, so we really have to analyse it. Of course I’m committed. I’ve got a big fight in me, and normally it only takes me 24 hours to turn things around.’
He struck a more positive note after breezing into the 50m breaststroke final on Sunday evening, finishing second in his semi-final behind South Africa’s Michael Houlie in a time of 26.82sec.
‘I think the last 24 hours have been a bit of a whirlwind,’ said Ramsay-Peaty. ‘It’s not something I’m used to, to be honest. I guess this sport is not really about when you get beaten because it’s going to be inevitable. Essentially (what’s important is) how long it takes you to look at it and turn it around for tonight. And we’re really happy with that, we’re on a great trajectory for tomorrow.
‘Every time I race I am getting a little bit stronger – apart from yesterday – which is important, but I am getting more exposed to it. And people forget that I haven’t done this for two years, you know. Even I forget that. So I think that perspective is a good thing to handle tomorrow. Tell you what, I’ll just enjoy the crowd. It’s an amazing crowd.’
