Emotional Adam Peaty falls short of historic ‘three-peat’ in 100m breaststroke final

Two-hundredths of a second. A few small millimetres. A fractionally mistimed final lunge for the line. Waking up with a sore throat on your four-yearly date with destiny.

It is on these margins that a lifetime of preparation can turn and, after years spent being so much better than the rest of the world, Adam Peaty finally has the agonising taste of Olympic defeat.

Not that it really looked much that way during a tearful poolside embrace with his girlfriend Holly Ramsay, mum Caroline and young son George after receiving a silver medal following what his mentor Mel Marshall has called an emotional “tsunami”.

Peaty continued to claim that there was victory in simply competing at this level again but, after leading through much of the race and only losing on the final touch for the wall, it would still be surprising if there is not some lingering regret.

“I touched the wall and I truly believed that I had got it,” he said. He talked about an “interesting” debrief and, while the now more measured and balanced Peaty will emphasise the positives, he will also be honest to locate the many ‘what ifs’.

Like not waking up ill and, in a race that had always looked certain to be decided by fine margins, losing precious ground at the very start and the very finish of the race.

Blindsided by Martinenghi

Having trailed in second at the 50m turn after labouring off the blocks, Peaty did then overhaul his Chinese rival Qin Haiyang in what was expected to be a big head-to-head showdown, and he looked for all the world to be swimming triumphantly into the history books.

But that did not allow for the Italian, Nicolò Martinenghi, in lane seven, who timed his swim better and literally passed Peaty in the final finger-tip reach for the wall.

Peaty later acknowledged that it was probably significant he was out of immediate view in lane four, with the Briton just seeming to marginally lose momentum in the final metres to tie with the American Nic Fink for second.

And, in that split second, the chance to join only Michael Phelps on a hat-trick of individual Olympic swimming titles and become only the second Briton with just Ben Ainslie to win an individual Olympic title three times had slipped away.

Philosophical in defeat

Peaty was refusing to sound anything but magnanimous after the race but the frustration at missing what would also have been Team GB’s first gold medal of these Games will surely be compounded by what was ultimately required to win.

Martinenghi’s winning time of 59.03sec was more than two seconds off Peaty’s world record and well over a second slower than the Briton had himself managed earlier this year in winning the British trials. It was also slower than Peaty had swam when he felt rather more healthy in winning the semi-final 24 hours earlier.

Peaty shed numerous tears in the aftermath, largely probably in relief that it was all over, and he repeatedly stressed that it was an emotion explained by what it had taken just to get on the start line rather than the result. There was an admirable lack of self-pity and bitterness.

It is, after all, only 18 months since Peaty says that sport had broken him. He had been dealing with bouts of depression, time out with a broken foot and separation from his partner Eiri Munro when, one morning during training in Loughborough, his goggles filled with tears.

Back from the brink

He told Marshall that he had enough and he walked out of the pool, not knowing whether he would be back. They decided that he should take baby steps back. That meant not committing to the demands of competitive swimming again, but “keeping in touch” with the water still and, in swimming as much for mental health as a competitive edge, keeping his options open.

In that five-month period of reflection, there were two seismic changes in attending church more regularly and finding a new life partner in Holly, the daughter of the celebrity chef, Gordon.

It has been a more relaxed Peaty during the comeback and, despite losing plenty more times than he had experienced in the previous decade, he has certainly seemed happier.

It will be fascinating, then, to see what comes next. This was Peaty’s sixth Olympic medal and his place as Britain’s greatest swimmer is secure. But he also has a relentless drive for success and seems finally to have found a way of enjoying swimming while not allowing his entire wellbeing to be wrapped up in the result.

A long break from competitive action does feel post-Paris but, equally, do not be surprised if at some point between now 2028 we wake up one morning and hear that he is back training again.

Peaty proud but misses gold by tightest margin: As it happened

09:47 PM BST

Thom Gibbs’ verdict

09:39 PM BST

What an achievement

09:34 PM BST

A message from his biggest fan

09:33 PM BST

Matt Richards and Duncan Scott speak on both qualifying for the Men’s 200m Freestyle final

Matt Richards:

On his chances at a medal:

On tonight’s swim:

On his tactics for the final:

On competing against Team GB teammate Duncan Scott:

Duncan Scott: 

On representing Britain in the finals. 

On qualifying:

09:21 PM BST

So little in it

Peaty is now embracing his family, flooding with tears. Let’s look back on his race and just how close he came.

09:16 PM BST

For Peaty, this is still a win

09:12 PM BST

Ariarne Titmus in first again

The Australian wins the second semi-final, having won gold yesterday. Australia also claimed second place through Mollie O’Callaghan. Siobhan Bernadette Haughey comes third.

09:04 PM BST

Claire Weinstein wins it

The American swimmer wins the first semi-finals followed by Barbora Seemanova of the Czech Republic and Mary-Sophie Harvey of Canada.

09:02 PM BST

The cruelty of sport

Two hundreths of a second. How close, how cruel, for Adam Peaty. Denied his third gold in a row by Nicola Martinenghi, whose Google Trends report is about to see a significant spike from the La Défense Arena area.

Peaty was straight over to congratulate the Italian. Was there a tear in the eye? Tough to tell in an aquatic event, but from what I could see Peaty did not look too crushed.

09:01 PM BST

Women’s 200m Freestyle semi-finals

This is the final race of the day with lots still on the line.

Australian duo Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan will be competing after their successful Saturday in which they both won gold, the former in the 400m Freestyle and the latter in the 100m Freestyle Relay.

08:55 PM BST

Martinenghi steals it!

Peaty is just pipped to it by the Italian Niccolo Martinenghi. Peaty claims joint second alongside Nic Finc of America. It was a remarkable race but ultimately not enough from Peaty who didn’t break 59s which would have won him this race.

The Italian beats Peaty by two one-hundredths of a second at 59.03secs.

Qin fell all the way to seventh after his hot start.

This race was so close from first to seventh with the difference a mere half of a second.

08:53 PM BST

At the turn its neck and neck

Peaty has some work to do but is right there with Qin at the end of the first stroke.

08:53 PM BST

And we’re off

Peaty has a decent start but Qin of China blasts his way forward to first off the dive.

08:51 PM BST

Here are the swimmers

Lane 1- Lucas Matzerath (Germany)

Lane 2- Caspar Corbeau (Netherlands)

Lane 3- Arno Kamminga (Netherlands)

Lane 4- Adam Peaty (Great Britain)

Lane 5- Haiyang Qin (China)

Lane 6- Nic Fink (USA)

Lane 7- Nicolo Martinenghi (Italy)

Lane 8- Melvin Imoudu (Germany)

Peaty looks extremely calm as he walks out here.

08:49 PM BST

Peaty going for gold

This is it, the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final, where Adam Peaty will go for his third consecutive gold medal in the event. Ludicrously, he has the 14 fastest times record in the event and is certainly the favourite here.

Qin is the ranked world number one right now and will look to push Peaty to the end.

08:47 PM BST

Xu leads all the way

The Chinese swimmer wins it by almost an entire length thanks to a rapid start earning him a 24.89sec time. Oliver Morgan of Team GB gets third place which will be enough to qualify for the finals in seventh place. Christou Apostolos comes second for Greece.

08:46 PM BST

The second semi-final begins

Jiayu Xu with an incredible start in his fourth Olympic games.

08:45 PM BST

Shenanigans on the podium

Mood here a touch flat. The majority French crowd have got what they came for with Marchand’s victory and subsequent medal ceremony. They are sticking around perhaps for Mewen Tomac and Yihann Ndoye-Brouard in their 100m backstroke semis which take place before Peaty’s race. Be interested in how many head for dinner at the many chain restaurants around the arena after that.

Some absolute shenanigans during their medal ceremony from Americans Tori Huske and Gretchen Walsh, who were first and second in the 100m butterfly. They were two tenths of a second apart but that is no excuse for sharing the first place on the podium, as they did. What’s the point of a lovely staggered three-person podium if gracious winners decide to invite their silver medallist friends onto the top spot?

08:43 PM BST

Ceccon sneaks first

Thomas Ceccon of Italy has a fantastic second length swim to win the race. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard of France finishes joint second alongside Pieter Coetze of South Africa. Olympic record holder Ryan Murphy comes in fourth whilst Jonny Marshall comes eighth and will not qualify for the finals.

08:40 PM BST

The first semi-final gets going

A great start from Ryan Murphy of Team USA the Olympic champion from Rio. Marshall with a good start keeping good pace.

08:39 PM BST

Men’s 100m Backstroke semi-finals

Team GB are represented in both sides of the semi-finals here, with Jonny Marshall in the first and Oliver Morgan in the second.

World record holder Ceccon Thomas and Olympic record holder Ryan Murphy are lining up in the first.

08:32 PM BST

America claims first and second

Torri Huske wins wins gold at 55.59secs with Gretchen Walsh just four tenths of a second behind. Zhang Yufei of China comes third.

08:30 PM BST

Women’s 100m Butterfly Final

Lane 1- Mizuki Hirai (Japan)

Lane 2- Margaret Mac Neil (Canada)

Lane 3- Yufei Zhang (China)

Lane 4- Gretchen Walsh (USA)

Lane 5- Torri Huske (USA)

Lane 6- Angelina Koehler (Germany)

Lane 7- Emma McKeon (Australia)

Lane 8- Louise Hansson (Sweden)

In a remarkable opening night for the American swimmer, Gretchen Walsh set a new Olympic record in her semi-final swim at 55.38sec and won silver with the USA team in the 4x100m Freestyle relay - she will be the firm favourite for this one, holding the three fastest times in the event’s history.

08:26 PM BST

Smith finishes first

A strong swim but a poor second half which let the others catch up. McSharry rocketed her way to second place whilst King takes third to qualify.

Agharad Evans of Team GB was fast enough to qualify for the finals, coming fourth in this race and sixth overall.

08:24 PM BST

McSharry pushes back

The Irish swimmer pushes hard in the second half and is catching Smith...

08:23 PM BST

The second semi-final gets underway

Its very even to start but Smith comes out strong as expected. Meilutyte starts well holding second place at half way.

08:19 PM BST

Tang Qianting wins it

The Chinese swimmer had a strong second length and earns her first place finish.

Alina Zmushka comes second and Pilato in third.

The target for the second semi-final is 66.39sec.

08:17 PM BST

Pilato of Italy out quickly

Pilato takes a quick lead but turns poorly after the first length and its tight at the front.

08:16 PM BST

Smith or King?

Up next is the Women’s 100m Breaststroke semifinals.

In the second of the two swims, the Olympic record holder Tatjana Smith of South Africa will face world record holder Lilly King of the USA in what might be a prequel to the final. Agharad Evans of Team GB is also competing in lane seven.

08:13 PM BST

He came so close

Litchfield speaking on missing out on a medal for the third consecutive Olympics

08:00 PM BST

Popovici wins it

The Romanian wins it, with Scott of Team GB in second place and the Australian Guilani in third.

A great effort from Duncan Scott to force his way into second place.

That also means that Matt Richards will qualify alongside Scott for the finals.

07:59 PM BST

Popivici continues to lead...

...but Scott is driving hard and is close behind in second place.

07:58 PM BST

The second semi-final gets going

Popovici has a great start in the centre here for Romania. Scott is half a length behind but will look to push on in the second half.

07:57 PM BST

Marchand marches on

An incroyable noise for Leon Marchand in the 400m medley from the proud home crowd, when did swimming get so rowdy? There was the generic “Allez Les Bleus” before the race, which morphed into “Allez Leon”. Then during his breaststroke leg a wonderful and we’ll-timed “Allez!” every time his head bobbed out of the water.

Before the first race there was a spontaneous rendition of the national anthem too. One of those thrilling moments when a crowd wills something stirring into action by collective telepathy. On the other side of the coin, a mandatory Mexican wave shortly afterwards.

07:56 PM BST

Now the second semi-final

Silver medalist in Tokyo Duncan Scott features on this side of the semi-finals competing with Australian pair Thomas Neill and Maximilian Giulani. David Popovici of Romania is in lane 4 - he came fourth in 2021.

07:55 PM BST

Hobson wins it

Richards and Hwang both fall out the top three having lead for the first 60 metres of this one. Luke Hobson wins at 51.44s. Lukas Maertens, the winner for Germany yesterday, comes in second. The Lithuanian Danas Rapsys comes in third.

Richards should qualify as his time was quick.

07:53 PM BST

Neck and neck

It’s neck and neck as we come to the final stretch with the German Maertens right there along with the Lithuanian Rapsys.

07:52 PM BST

A fantastic start for Richards

Matt Richards comes out flying taking an early lead. Hwang pushes back quickly and takes the lead going into halfway.

07:51 PM BST

Men’s 200m Freestyle semi-finals

Here comes the first of the 200m Freestyle semi-finals. 21-year-old Matthew Richards is in lane three for Team GB, no doubt with one eye on the final having won gold at the 2023 World Championships. Sunwoo Hwang of South Korea, World Champion in Doha this year, is in lane seven.

07:50 PM BST

A nation’s hero

Not sure there can ever have been a better atmosphere than that in any swimming race. Olympic record for French hero Leon Marchard, whose every breath during the breaststroke leg of the 400m medley was greeted with a deafening, rhythmic cheer, destroyed the field to win in an Olympic record time of 4min 2.96sec.

Great British medal hope Max Litchfield finished an agonising fourth for what is the third consecutive Olympics. Litchfield had moved into second with 50m to go but just faltered in the final strokes to miss out on a medal by 0.19sec.

07:44 PM BST

On the brink of a “three-peat(y)”

Good evening from La Défense Arena, home to Paul McCartney and Sum 41 later this year, Taylor Swift in May and Olympic swimming in between. Adam Peaty stands on the brink of a three-peat(y) tonight, and you better believe that has been pencilled in as the headline for many of tomorrow’s papers already.

He’s up in around 80 minutes and will be in the midst of a well-honed pre-race routine currently, which likely involves a lot of visualising, breathing exercises, eating of his Weetabix etc. Was listening to an interview he gave to Chris Hoy earlier today and marvelling at just how much thought goes into his sport which is, if you want to be glib about it, just trying as hard as you can at something for around a minute.

Doing that to the standards he has achieved requires such focus, such consistency, such resilience. Factoring in his comeback arc, after taking a break from the sport to improve is mental health, and you sense victory here will be one of the standout British moments of these Games. Best not to count any chickens yet, he certainly will not be.

07:41 PM BST

Marchand goes for gold

A dominant display for the Frenchman as he claims the gold by some length at 4mins 2.95sec. He’s Smashed Phelps’ record and won the first medal France has ever won in the event.

Matsushita of Japan comes in second whilst Carson Foster gets bronze.

A valiant display from Max Litchfield but he misses out on a medal by a fraction of a second for the third Olympics in a row. Heartbreaking but a new British record for the 29 year old.

07:39 PM BST

The final stretch

Marchand is well under the world record and looks on course to break it. Litchfield has some left in the tank and is pushing Matsushita and Foster.

07:38 PM BST

The crowd love it

Marchand is now three lengths ahead and this looks all but done. Seto and Foster of the USA are neck and neck competing for the silver.

The difference between everyone else is minor, and Marchand is literally stretching out of picture.

07:37 PM BST

Onto the backstroke

Marchand is blasting forward, on pace with the world record as he gets into his backstroke. The gap with Litchfield is significant, but there is time to make it up.

07:36 PM BST

And we’re off

Marchand comes out to and early lead as expected. Litchfield lagging behind but butterfly is his weakest stroke. The Japanese Daiya Seto is hot on the Frenchman’s tail.

07:34 PM BST

Litchfield is loving it

Max comes out to a nice reception from the crowd and laps it up.

However, he is followed by the French favourite Leon Marchand who receives a roar of approval.

It will take a huge effort for Litchfield to win this one, but he looks relaxed and confident

07:32 PM BST

Men’s 400m Individual Medley Final

The swimmers line up as follows:

Lane 1- Lewis Clareburt (Australia)

Lane 2- Tomoyuki Matsushita (Japan)

Lane 3- Daiya Seto (Japan)

Lane 4- Léon Marchand (France)

Lane 5- Max Litchfield (Great Britain)

Lane 6- Carson Foster (USA)

Lane 7- Alberto Razzetti (Italy)

Lane 8- Cedric Buessing (Germany)

07:31 PM BST

A big one for Team GB

07:29 PM BST

Time for some swimming

We’ve got three finals coming up tonight starting with the Men’s 400m Individual Medley Final very soon.

Adam Peaty will be competing later on in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final looking to join Michael Phelps as only the second male swimmer to win gold in the same event at three Olympics in a row.

07:28 PM BST

The crowd gets going

07:27 PM BST

New Priorities

Great Britain swimming sensation Adam Peaty will be seeking his third gold medal in the men’s 100 metre breaststroke tonight at 20:44. If he wins, he will join Michael Phelps as the only male swimmers to win the same event at three consecutive Olympics.

Peaty has had a more complicated relationship with the sport relative to his American counterpart but comes into these games with reordered priorities and purpose.

His career faced a crossroads last year as he found himself at odds with the sport. The love for the sport and desire to win at all costs had faded, with swimming causing him more grief than happiness.

Peaty attributed his newfound perspective to the inspiration his son provides, dragging him from “the lowest of the lows” to where he stands today.

“When you’re younger, you think ‘if I get a gold medal, it’s going to solve so many problems,’” he said. “My relationship with a gold medal now is that I know that it won’t solve any of the problems that I want it to. I do it to win. I want to be the best. I am the best. I’ve still got the world record.

“I have a FaceTime call with my son George, who is nearly four years old, and he goes ‘daddy are you the fastest boy?’” said Peaty. “And that’s kind of my purpose now – to prove that I’m the fastest boy to my son.”

Tune in for the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final live blog here at 20:44.

07:21 PM BST

Team GB

Adam Peaty isn’t the only man from Team GB competing for a medal.

Max Litchfield won silver at the World Championships in February and qualified second fastest in the semi-finals of the Men’s 400m Individual Medley.

Max also set the British record in the event to book his place in Paris for his third Olympics. Having finished fourth in both Tokyo and Rio, he will desperate for a medal here tonight.

He’s up against home favourite Léon Marchand who holds the world record at 4mins 3.5sec and beat out Litchfield in their heat earlier today.

07:06 PM BST

Germany finally wins gold

Lukas Maertens won gold for Germany last night in the Men’s 400m Freestyle, becoming the first swimmer from his nation to do so since 1988.

Coming out at a blistering pace, he was on world-record pace for some time before finishing just a second and a half off it.

07:01 PM BST

The Walsh sisters

Sisters Alex and Gretchen Walsh will both be competing for gold in Paris this year but at different ends of the sport.

Alex is an imposing 6ft athlete, talented across the board and a strong medal contender for the 200m Individual Medley.

Gretchen is a double-jointed sprinter with “uncanny flexibility” and set a new Olympic record in Women’s 100m Butterfly in her semi-final yesterday. She’ll be competing in the final tonight and has already won silver in the 4x100m Freestyle final with Team USA. She will also compete in the 50m Freestyle event later on.

Both sisters go to the University of Virginia where they have broken numerous records and won four consecutive NCAA Championships starting in 2021.

Tune in here to see how Gretchen fairs in the finals at 19:40.

06:50 PM BST

Drugs and Scandal

The World Anti-Doping Agency has come under fire over their handling of allegations that China’s Olympic swimming team had been cheating. Prior to the opening ceremony leading swimmers condemned the investigation which failed to ban China in 2021 after 23 athletes failed drug tests.

The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency claimed athletes’ positive tests came as a result of contamination, refusing to publish further details. Wada reviewed the decision, consulting scientific experts and external legal counsel, and ultimately concluded it was in no position to contradict Chinada’s findings.

Adam Peaty was among those to criticise Wada back in April, frustrated at their failure to announce their findings at the time.

“Why not release this information at the time, who really benefits from the lack of transparency and secrecy?” Peaty said on social media. “What happened to strict liability? Whether someone benefits or not, surely at this scale it proves it’s systematic?

“So disappointing from Wada.”

Caeleb Dressel, the seven-time Olympic gold medalist, bluntly replied “no, not really” when asked whether he had confidence in the case involving 23 athletes.

Australia’s Olympic 200 metres Breaststroke champion Zac Stubblety-Cook also indicated he may carry out a podium protest against the Chinese. The system, he said, “ultimately feels like it’s failed”.

It is believed 11 of the 23 Chinese swimmers are due to compete in Paris as the FBI investigates the case under the Rodchenko Act, which was passed after the Russian doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Games. Wada and the IOC oppose the challenge to their authority, however.

06:42 PM BST

Bob the Cap Catcher

In an unusual turn of events during this morning’s qualifying heats a hero donned in colourful budgie smugglers came to the rescue.

Team USA’s Emma Webber had lost her swim cap in the pool causing a delay in-between the preliminary heats in the 100m Women’s Breaststroke. It needed to be removed as it was obstructing the various cameras placed at the bottom of the pool.

Our hero arrived just at the right time, stripped down – naturally – and performed a ten-out-of-ten dive in front of 15,000 inside the La Defense Arena. Without him, who knows whether the Olympics would have been able to go ahead.

Not the hero we expected, but the hero we needed.

06:38 PM BST

How he got here

A look at Peaty’s semi-final from last night...

06:21 PM BST

Adam Peaty going for three in a row but faces stiff opposition

Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of this evening’s session of swimming at the Paris Olympic Aquatic Centre, where Adam Peaty will look to complete a ‘threepeat’ of 100m breaststroke gold medals at three consecutive Games.

The 29-year-old seemed to own this event for so many years, setting the world record in 2019 with an astonishing time of 56.88 seconds.

But since then he has taken time out to deal with depression and alcohol issues and said before the Games he is coming in as “the person with the bow and arrow and not the one being fired at”.

China’s Qin Haiyang is the big competition, but Peaty set the fastest time in the semis, with his time of 58.86 seconds 0.07 secs faster than Qin.

“Just getting out there, enjoying the crowd, a bit of adrenaline, and it’s put me in the best lane for the final, so we’ll see what we get there tomorrow,” said Peaty after cruising through his semi-final.

“I know I’ve been in this situation many times before, but again, it’s about enjoying it.

“I embrace the nerves, I love the nerves, but whatever the result tomorrow, I want to finish with a smile,” he added. “I know that I give my all, with no mistakes, and I think that I can do that.”

There is expected to be an edge to the contest. Peaty has called for a “fair game” after the build-up to the Olympic swimming events was overshadowed by the revelation that a group of 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for trace amounts of the banned substance trimetazidine prior to the Tokyo Games.

Qin, who holds the world record for the men’s 200m breaststroke, has since suggested on social media that the vigorous testing of Chinese athletes was an attempt to disturb their rhythm.

Peaty’s final will start at 8.44pm British Summer Time.