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Louise Thomas

Editor

Adam Peaty says he is taking an extended break following his silver medal success at the Paris 2024 before deciding on whether he wants to compete at the next Olympics in Los Angeles.

The two-time Olympic champion has spoken about the possibility of qualifying for a fourth Olympics and challenging for a third individual gold medal.

“I’m going to stay fit and I’m going to train for two years,” Peaty said in an interview with The Times while addressing whether he has the desire to compete at Los Angeles 2028.

“But I’m going to take a break, put other things forward as a priority. It’s trying to get a balance with my work and trying to find out who I am away from sport.

“Knowing what I’ve done in the past 14 months, I only need two years really. So we’ll look at the landscape in ’26 and if that contract’s worth writing for me, I’ll write it and I’ll train the hardest I can.”

Peaty had to settle for silver in the men’s 100m breaststroke final in Paris, having lost out on a third consecutive gold medal in the event to Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi by just 0.02 seconds.

It was a result that would have hurt the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 champion earlier in his career but after coming through a tumultuous time in the build-up to the Olympics, Peaty says he is in a completely different mental space now.

“It’s not sad at all,” he said during his teary post-race interview. “These are happy tears. If you’re willing to put yourself on the line every single time, I think there’s no such thing as a loss.

“It’s broken me, this sport, but it’s also given me life, it’s given me everything I am and I am happy to stand here with not really any answers to what that performance is but a happy heart and that is all that matters.”

During his 20s, Peaty won medals and broke records. He set the fastest times in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke and has broken the world record 14 times. He was the first man to swim under 26 seconds for the 50m breaststroke and under both 58 and 57 seconds in the 100m.

By the time the Los Angeles Games come around he’ll be close to 34 years old, so is the motivation still there to compete at the highest level?

Peaty isn’t sure but he wants time away from the sport to think about it.

“When you win Olympic gold, that does come at a cost,” he told The Times, “You’ve got to sacrifice your relationships with your family, because of the time. You’ve got to miss out on key moments of your life and put training first, swimming first.

“That’s the cost of gold.

“Winning golds, winning silvers that’s not a motivation anymore, because I just wake up the next day and I’m like, ‘OK, whatever.’

“I’ve won worlds, I’ve won Europeans, I’ve won Commonwealths, I’ve won Olympics. I’ve got world records. I’ve won everything there is to win in my event. I have nothing to prove.”

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