Adam Peaty has tested positive for Covid after feeling unwell prior to missing out on gold in the men’s 100 metre breaststroke final, Team GB have announced.
Peaty, 29, had been left in tears after settling for Olympic silver as Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi snatched victory in Paris on Sunday night.
Team GB have now confirmed in a statement that Peaty was already feeling ill. “In the hours after the final, his symptoms became worse and he was tested for Covid early on Monday morning,” the team added. “He tested positive at that point.”
Team GB have yet to clarify who else he had come into close contact with in recent days. There were already fears that athletes who boarded boats in the pouring rain at the opening ceremony would subsequently report symptoms of colds.
Peaty has not given up on his Games yet, however. “He is hopeful to be back in competition for the relay events later in the swimming programme,” Team GB said. “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 was well placed with 25m to go on Sunday but was pipped by 0.02 seconds and finished in a tie for second with American Nic Fink He had been aiming to become only the second man, after the great Michael Phelps, to win the same swimming event at three consecutive Olympics.
Peaty was already known to have woken up feeling ill on the big day. In a race decided by fine margins, the infection will have played a significant factor in losing precious ground at the very start and the very finish of the race.
Having trailed in second at the 50m turn after labouring off the blocks, Peaty did then overhaul his Chinese rival Qin Haiyang in what was expected to be a big head-to-head showdown.
But that did not allow for the Italian, Martinenghi, in lane seven, who timed his swim better and literally passed Peaty in the final finger-tip reach for the wall.
Peaty later acknowledged that it was probably significant he was out of immediate view in lane four, with the Briton just seeming to marginally lose momentum in the final metres to tie with the American Nic Fink for second.
Peaty was refusing to sound anything but magnanimous after the race but the frustration at missing what would also have been Team GB’s first gold medal of these Games will surely be compounded by what was ultimately required to win.