Tokyo 2020 Swimmer Adam Peaty becomes Double Olympic champion. Adam Peaty of Staffordshire set the fastest qualifying time in the semi-finals, clocking in at 57.63 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. Early this morning, Adam Peaty became the first Briton in history to retain an Olympic Gold Medal.
The 26-year-old from Uttoxeter, who now lives and trains in Loughborough, earned our first gold medal of the games in the 100-meter breaststroke, soon after Alex Yi of Team GB won silver in the men’s triathlon. Peaty finished in 57.37 seconds, the fifth-fastest time in history, beating off Holland’s Arno Kamminga for fifth place, with bronze going to Italy’s Nicole Martin.
He punched the water and raised his arms in celebration of his second Olympic gold medal, beaming as his teammates shouted his name. Peaty cursed live on television after the race and apologized, claiming he was overwhelmed with emotions. This gold medal is even more remarkable since it is the 100th won by British competitors at the summer and winter Olympics since the establishment of world-class programming sponsored by national lottery players.
During the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Cameron van der Burgh was his hero. Peaty and the South African would spar on several occasions, with the Briton usually coming out on top.
Adam also won the Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke five years ago in Rio, making him the first male British swimmer to do it in 24 years. Peaty, the current world record holder in the 50-meter and 100-meter breaststroke events, is now a double Olympic champion, an eight-time world champion, a 13-time European champion, and a three-time Commonwealth champion, but he had only one goal in Tokyo: to make his family, especially his baby son, proud. Adam set the world record at the world championships in Korea in 2019 at 56.88 seconds.
Peaty has said that the advent of his son George, due on 11th September 2020, has given him a new perspective on life.
Dove Valley Swimming Club in Uttoxeter was Peaty’s first club when he was nine. By the time he was 12, he was winning races and establishing club records. He was 14 when a buddy led him to the City of Derby Swimming Club, where he was put in the slow lane with younger ladies since his freestyle performance wasn’t impressive.
In the process, he honed his 6ft 3in physique, which is capable of powering skillfully through the water and leaving all his opponents scrambling to keep up.
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