Team GB hero Adam Peaty tests positive for Covid just hours after Paris Olympics silver medal… and revealing sore throat
TEAM GB bosses have announced that Adam Peaty tested positive for Covid this morning.
The pool superstar was clearly unwell as he spoke in the mixed zone after relinquishing his 100m breaststroke title to Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi on Sunday.
Peaty said his illness was “no excuse” but at one stage his voice almost gave up as he coughed and spluttered while talking to reporters – admitting that he’d had a “curveball” with his throat.
And Team GB has now explained: “Adam Peaty began feeling unwell on Sunday, ahead of his Men’s 100m Breaststroke final.
“In the hours after the final, his symptoms became worse and he was tested for Covid early on Monday morning. He tested positive at that point.
“He is hopeful to be back in competition for the relay events later in the swimming programme.
“As in any case of illness, the situation is being managed appropriately, with all usual precautions being taken to keep the wider delegation healthy.”
Peaty’s next final is due to be on Saturday as he is planning to help defend GB’s mixed 4x100m medley relay title, with the 4x100m men’s medley relay the following night.
The Team GB superstar was just 0.02 seconds off retaining his gold medal.
Speaking to the BBC after the race, a tearful Peaty said: “I love the sport and I love how far it’s taken me and the challenge every single day.
What happens next?
If Adam Peaty had tested positive in Tokyo three years ago, it would have been the end of his Games and he would have been quarantined in an Olympic hospital before being sent home.
Things have changed a great deal since and there are no restrictions or special measures attached to positive tests at the Paris Games.
Team GB chiefs will adopt a “common sense” approach, with Peaty and those around him urged to adopt a sensible “hands and face” approach, using antiseptic cleansers.
But there is no need for Peaty to isolate or even to notify Games bosses – although the Team GB announcement will let the world know of his illness.
Peaty will be cleared to compete again as soon as he feels ready to perform, although it seems more likely that he would not take part in the qualifying rounds of either of the relay events he is due to participate in.
But with head of performance services Greg Rutter having worked overtime to minimise risk throughout the British squads at their various Paris bases, there are at this stage no concerns of a spread of the infection.
“These are happy tears because I don’t think anybody could have done it other than me.
“The relationship I’ve got with this sport is: I’m all in. That comes at a cost of spending time with boy, spending time doing things I want to do as an older man.”
He then added: “I think, taking a break from this sport, because it broke me, and trying to find a way back – I’ve already won.
“My heart is so happy and I am so grateful that I can theoretically lose and feel like I have still won.”
Peaty was cheered on in Paris by his biggest fan: three-year-old son George.
He went on to reveal what his little boy said to him as they reunited after the race.
The swimming superstar said: “George normally goes, ‘Daddy, are you the fastest boy?’ and I would’ve said, ‘Not today’.
“But he says, ‘I love you Daddy’ And that’s all I care about.”
I had a curveball this morning with my throat and stuff
Adam Peaty
On his illness, he had said last night: “I had a curveball this morning with my throat and stuff.
“You can train eight years for something and not feel 100 per cent on a day. And 100 per cent costs you 0.02 and that’s just the way.
“But I don’t ever want that to be an excuse. That’s the cards I was dealt.
“I won’t be going home thinking about that, even if it feels like a hangover in the morning because of the emotions.
“Getting here was a big achievement. It’s not sad at all.
“When I touched the wall, I truly believed I’d got it but it wasn’t meant to be.
“If I’d won it would have been a fairytale ending. But I’m not defining this whole journey back, the last 14 months, by whether I got a medal or not.”
