Sports can give you success but at the same time give you failures when least expected. For Adam Peaty, it was a hardened test of patience that reflected him in many ways he never would have imagined to come. That journey, however, made him experience a life beyond the competitiveness in sports and the world without worrying about achieving a championship or a title.

The swimmer experienced a pretty dark phase 14 months before his appearance in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Coming out as broken and upset by himself with feelings of loneliness coming into effect, it was not long before the swimmer was quite close to making one of the biggest decisions of his career.

Peaty almost ended up calling it quits

It wasn’t a competition; neither a disappointing win nor a setback received by any competitor came as one of the underwhelming moments or a devastating phase of his life that led him under darkness. For Adam Peaty, it all began with a warmup session in a 25-meter breaststroke race that left him tired and broken at first.

The occurrences that followed, however, left him quite vulnerable, leading towards a life of a loner. From crying in the shower alone to sulking not about a lost competition but the degrading growth of himself as a swimmer comes into effect. A recent interview, however, led him towards making an honest confession about the darkest moment coming into his life and the experience resulting in him being close to making one of the biggest decisions of his career.

Stating on rumors of quitting his career, Adam Peaty says in a recent interview with High Performance, “Oh, like a nanometer, honestly, extremely close, extremely close, because it just wasn’t worth it in that time when I was so broken that nothing mattered if you weren’t happy, and there’s nothing a gold medal or a world record could give me.” Left broken by himself, Adam was left wanting joy and happiness from the upsetting environment and setback experienced from his participating in competitions.

“You know, go back a few years to 2019 when I broke the world record in 100 meters, which is still the world record. I touched the wall even though it was a second and a half fast, and everyone else was faster than I’ve ever been by a huge margin. I was like, ‘That’s not enough.’ So if that’s not enough, what is enough? And happiness and peace is enough.”

Giving an example of his 2019 record-breaking performance in 100 meters, the success achieved was a great moment to come true, but what lacked was the happiness and self-satisfaction from the win. To achieve this, the swimmer has been on the lookout to find a way to enjoy the moment despite the win or loss coming out of the shadow that left him in the dark.

Adam Peaty is finding love and joy

For Peaty, now it’s not just about the competition or the stress to get to the top spot. This time he was not willing to pay any cost with the ongoing turmoil faced from the results. It’s not about finding the love and the joy in every competition faced while stripping everything back.

Carrying less tension to get an Olympic medal while preparing himself to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics drove Adam Peaty towards gaining a new motive going forward. Today he is coming out as a different self that does not come concerned about the outcome but rather is giving importance to the journey experienced.

Relying on his mental, spiritual, and physical strength, Peaty’s ability now stands under this triangle with every competition he faces. Returning to the water surface with his mental health now healing out. Missing out on his third consecutive gold medal win in the Olympics by just 0.02 seconds from Nicolo Martinenghi, the 59.05-second record came as a sixth Olympic win for him, securing the silver medal in a tie-up with Nic Fink.

With his mental health now nourishing, the swimmer has now found his happiness among the smallest things, like gardening, walking, and leading a simple life out of any stress or disappointments. As stated by himself, “It’s not about the Olympic Golds. It’s not about the world records because that matter of time is so small. It’s about who makes me happy, what makes me happy.” Well, may you flourish to the point where you’ll always be happy, Adam Peaty!