Adam Peaty aiming for Paris 2024 Olympics glory after setbacks – ‘I’ve been on a self-destructive spiral’

Adam Peaty says he has been on a “self-destructive spiral” but hopes he is on the road to recovery ahead of the Olympics in Paris next year.

The 28-year-old has previously spoken about periods of depression and alcohol problems which he says worsened last year due to injury, motivation and the breakdown of his relationship with the mother of his young son.

“The devil on my shoulder (says), ‘you’re missing out on life, you’re not good enough, you need a drink, you can’t have what you want, you can’t be happy’.

“I’ve been on a self-destructive spiral, which I don’t mind saying because I’m human. By saying it, I can start to find the answers.

“I got to a point in my career where I didn’t feel like myself – I didn’t feel happy swimming, I didn’t feel happy racing, my biggest love in the sport. I’ve had my hand hovering over a self-destruct button because if I don’t get the result that I want, I self-destruct.”

Peaty defended his 100m breaststroke title at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and also set a record for the 20 fastest times in history over the distance. His world record is almost a full second quicker than anyone else has ever swum.

“Any sane person knows that 18 years doing the same thing is pretty much crazy,” he said. “Trying to find tiny margins year after year, trying to find 0.1 per cent.

“The dedication and sacrifice – weekends and all your time are spent chasing that goal for this one opportunity of Olympic glory. Once made sense, twice was a big ask, and was bigger last time round because that extra Covid year was really hard on all of us.

“A third one? It’s very bizarre that we do it, but I’m still here.

“The only reason that I took a step away from it for now, competitively, is because I don’t know why I’m still doing it, to be honest. I don’t know why I’m still fighting. The positive thing is that I noticed a ‘why’ there. I’m looking for the answer.”

The Paris 2024 Olympics start on July 26.

If Peaty wins in Paris he would become only the second man after Michael Phelps to claim the same swimming title at three successive Games.

“I think I can do that, otherwise I wouldn’t be here, but it’s going to take a very different journey to get down to that,” he said.