Adam Peaty has a nagging feeling of unfinished Olympic business but is unsure about climbing the “Mount Everest” needed to challenge in Los Angeles.
Peaty will turn 30 next month and is currently taking a break from swimming after winning his sixth Olympic medal in Paris this summer, a silver in the 100 metres breaststroke.
Fortune was not on his side, with Peaty beginning to feel unwell on the day of the race before testing positive for Covid-19 the following morning.
Nearly four months on he remains sanguine about the circumstances, telling the PA news agency: “There’s not really much you can dwell on. I did the best with the cards I was dealt.
“I’m a very positive person most of the time so there’s not too much thinking ‘what if’, because it doesn’t change the outcome and it doesn’t change the fact that I could still give my best effort and get an Olympic silver.”
But Peaty will never know what he could have achieved without the illness, and the possibility of competing at a fourth Games at LA 2028 is a carrot dangling tantalisingly in front of him.
“You want to end on a Games that you’ve got all your best cards to your chest,” he said. “I feel like in Paris I didn’t have any cards to my chest, I was just going out there and racing.
“I know there’s a better performance in there but, whether that’s worth the four-year hike on Mount Everest, that’s a different question.
“LA would be incredible to be there, it’s just obviously a long way away and I’m sure plenty’s going to change between now and then.”
Central to Peaty’s decision could be whether the 50m breaststroke, in which he is the world record holder and a three-time world champion, is included in the programme.
Another question mark surrounds Peaty’s training, with his long-term coach Mel Marshall now working in Australia.
Whether they could find a way of making things work remains to be seen, with Peaty saying: “It’s something we haven’t discussed. If she wanted to take that on, I’m sure she would, but I don’t know what that is going to look like.
“The decision needs to be made within the next year or year and a half and then we go from there.
I know there's a better performance in there but, whether that's worth the four-year hike on Mount Everest, that's a different question.
“I’ll always be in touch with Mel, she’s like my third parent, so we’ll see where those conversations take us, but at the moment I’m just staying active, staying ready, staying fairly fit and not fat, and trying to make the most of each day.”
For now, Peaty is focusing on other projects, including his AP Race swimming brand, while he also took part in Amazon’s Black Friday Week Show, highlighting the retailer’s offers.
“It was really fun,” said Peaty. “Going through our purchase history and Black Friday and all the deals you can get. That was my first time being in that kind of environment. I’m always open to doing new things.”
While he has not spent much time in the pool recently, Peaty has been keeping fit by running, doing CrossFit and going to the gym.
The change in exercise routine has been a challenge, with Peaty adding: “I’ve really struggled with that but at the same time I’m fortunate that I’ve got a lot of training in my body, my body’s still relatively lean and I never have a problem with maintaining muscle.
“I miss every single day just having that sole purpose of being the fastest. But with that comes high risk. As we’ve seen in the Olympics, you’re increasing your odds every day, but if you have one bad day that could take your result out.
“Whereas, in most of life, you work every day and you get a little bit of validation and gratification along the way. I do miss the training and the racing but at the moment it’s a bit too early to go back to that.”
:: Adam Peaty joins Stacey Dooley and Clara Amfo as guests on Amazon’s online ‘Black Friday Week Show’, hosted by Rylan Clark. The show celebrates the hundreds of thousands of deals on offer this year, and is available to watch until 2nd December at http://www.instagram.com/amazonuk/.
