Adam Ramsay-Peaty says ending career at 2028 Olympics will be ‘the hardest test’

The highly decorated swimmer, who last won a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, burst into tears after claiming the 100m bronze medal on Saturday night

Adam Ramsay-Peaty has never been one to hide his emotions. He wears them proudly on his sleeve, next to the striking tattoos of a huge lion and Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Less than 24 hours day after his shock defeat in the 100m breaststroke final at these Commonwealth Games, the 31-year-old was back in the pool for the preliminary stages of the 50m breaststroke – and back pouring his heart out.

First, Britain’s greatest-ever swimmer admitted that he had struggled with burnout and a broken foot over the last four years, as well as hinting at the much-publicised estrangement with his family. Then he conceded that his plan to end his career at the LA Olympics will be “the hardest climb I have ever faced”.

“There have been a multitude of things at play over the last few years - burnout, breaking my foot, fighting against something that you love. It’s been hard,” he said. “Some of it has been quite painful, particularly from that foot injury onwards.

“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 burst into tears after winning the 100m bronze medal on Saturday night and even after a good night’s sleep he was unable to explain why he was so emotional - or why he swam so poorly.

“I think emotions can cloud things, and the pain probably gets a little bit easier over the next few days,” he admitted. “But I don’t really know what went wrong in that race. The heats, the semi-finals and the final haven’t really felt super strong, to be honest. In the final, I just felt really weak, so I don’t really know.”

What was most striking was Ramsay-Peaty’s modest time of 59.65. Not only was it nearly three seconds behind his world record, it was also slower than he swam at the British trials in the spring.

“I work a lot harder than a 59.6, really. It’s not a good time - we know that,” he said. “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.

“I was fitter in April with less training, which doesn’t really make sense, to be honest,” he added. “I guess that’s the learning point. Maybe I’m on a plan that I don’t fully understand, and maybe it’ll take another two years to find the right way.

“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.”

Incredibly, Peaty has stood on the top of the podium 32 times in global championships across his glittering career. Yet, just as astonishingly, he has not won a gold medal since the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

That record extended on Saturday evening after he could only take bronze behind Australia’s Sam Williamson, who won in 59.37sec, and the brilliant 18-year-old Filip Nowicki from Jersey, who took silver.

Afterwards Ramsay-Peaty was strikingly honest about “all the shit I have been through” to get ready for the Commonwealth Games, including the 5.30am starts, missing family gatherings because of training, and also the amount of abuse he and his family has received on social media.

“You don’t know who I am,” he said. “And people who comment, people who see the story because you read a headline, they’ve got to look themselves in the mirror. You can’t hurt me.”

Peaty-Ramsay also took aim at some elements of the traditional media too, who have become fixated with him and his pregnant wife, Holly – the daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay – and his estrangement with his mother.

“That hasn’t played a part in the sense of what I’ve experienced, because I’m still happy with that result in some sense, but it has to stop,” he said. “How many athletes, how many people, have to go through this until the media learn their lesson? You have to learn and do better.

“I feel like I deserve more, to be honest,” he added. “I know the shit I’ve been through. Which is no fault of my own, to be honest. But it does take a toll, you know?”