British Olympian Adam Peaty delivers emotional interview after missing out on gold in agonising finish
Adam Peaty was in tears on BBC
BBC
Adam Peaty was in tears after his silver medal in a dramatic men's 100m breaststroke final.
Peaty is widely considered the greatest British swimmer of all time ahead of the likes of James Guy, Rebecca Adlington and Henry Taylor.
He was bidding to become a three-time Olympic champion in the men's 100m breaststroke event having not lost on the world's biggest stage since his Games debut in Rio 2016.
Peaty still holds the world record in the men's 100m breaststroke and looked on course to add another gold to his belt.
Adam Peaty was in tears on BBC
BBC
But the extremely tight race saw Peaty just pipped to the line by Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi.
Peaty ended up finishing in the exact same time as American Nic Fink with the duo just two-hundredths-of-a-second behind Martinenghi.
The British swimmer showed his class in the pool by swimming over and congratulating his rival.
And his emotions got the better of him as he spoke of his pride in still being able to compete at the very top of the sport.
"It's been a very long way back and I look at the score there and you never think in your wildest dreams it will be 59 to win it," Peaty said.
"I gave it my absolute all. I executed it as well as I could.
"It's not about the end goal, it's about the process. It doesn't matter what the time says on the scoreboard, I think in my heart I have already won."
Peaty then had to recompose himself as he began to tear up before he was consoled by the interviewer.
Adam Peaty was bidding to win a third consecutive gold medal
REUTERS
He then added: "I'm not crying because I've come second. I'm crying because it just took so much to get here.
"It's just incredibly hard to win it once and to win it again and to win it again and trying to find new ways to do it.
"Everything I've done up to this point I feel has happened for a reason and I'm so happy that I can race against the best in the world and still come joint-second.
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Nicolo Martinenghi pipped Adam Peaty to gold
REUTERS
"In my heart I have won, these are happy tears.
"I gave my absolute best every single day and I can't be upset about that.
"I'm almost an older man here now. I can't have that relentless pursuit every single day without a sacrifice of some sort - they come in every single form. It's very hard to compete with the younger ones, so I'm very happy with that because I know in my heart I could have done more."