For eight extraordinary years, Adam Peaty has been swimming’s Mr Invincible: unbeatable and impregnable, chasing records and letting others get swept up in his slipstream. However, on a wild and bewildering night in Birmingham, he suffered arguably the biggest shock in Commonwealth Games history as he finished fourth in the men’s 100m breaststroke final.
Fourth! This was the swimming equivalent of Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson. From the US soccer team that defeated England in the 1950 World Cup. A moment when everything we thought we knew about a sport was picked up and turned discordantly off its axis.
It was very close, with England’s James Wilby winning gold in 59.25, ahead of Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook (59.52) and Sam Williamson (59.82). Peaty, meanwhile, came home in 59.86, three seconds off his world record.
Admittedly, Peaty had arrived in Birmingham looking dangerously undercooked after a broken foot in May left him in a boot and behind schedule. However, after the victories in his heat and semi-final here, no one expected this. Not when Petty had never lost a 100-meter dash in his senior career.
“It took a broken foot to get him away from me,” Peaty said. “But I chose to fight.”
He did it. And he went out bravely with his shield.
At first, everything seemed to be going to script as Peaty took the lead at 20 meters and began his familiar surge at 30. But this time there was no muscle separation from the pack. At the turn, the 27-year-old still led, but only by 0.13 seconds, and his pursuers felt blood.
Peaty, the ultimate alpha male in swimming for so long, tried to hold them off, but with 25 meters to go he began to be swallowed up. First Wilby passed him. Next, Stubblety-Cook. Earlier, right at the end, Williamson also snatched the bronze from him.
“I felt really good in the 50m,” admitted Peaty. “I don’t know what went wrong. With 25m to go I had nothing in the tank. I felt good, but it’s two seconds slower than the Olympics. Obviously something has gone wrong in this cycle.”
Intriguingly, Peaty also spoke of a “major reset”, before adding: “Obviously there’s a lot of things that go wrong in my training program. But sometimes when you don’t run all season, it bites you when it matters.”
This was his first defeat in the 100m breaststroke since he made the senior ranks in 2014, during which time he claimed three Olympic golds, eight world titles and almost two dozen European and Commonwealth medals.
For good measure, he also holds the top 20 times in history, with no one else having broken 58 seconds, and has also broken 14 world records. However, none of that mattered on this crazy night in Birmingham.
England’s Alice Tai won gold six months after having her right leg amputated below the knee. Photo: Tim Goode/PA
“It was a really slow final for me,” said Peaty, who will now return to the 50m heats on Monday. “I don’t even remember when I was that slow. Of course it’s a shock. Of course it’s disappointing, but that’s where you get those moments to go faster next time.”
Meanwhile, Wilby reveled in his surprising derangement. “I’m overwhelmed and shocked,” he said. “I’ve always been after him. He’s a phenomenal athlete and he’s probably going to kick my ass later in the calendar. But I’m proud of him.” And so it should be.
Meanwhile, England had more success in the S8 100m backstroke as Alice Tai won gold in 1:13.64, six months after her right leg was amputated below the knee due to worsening foot bot
There was also a bronze for England in the 4x200m freestyle relay behind Australia, who took gold in a new world record time of 7:39.29, and Canada, who took silver.
In the evening, South Africa’s Chad Le Clos broke the Commonwealth Games record for most medals (18) as he claimed silver in a thrilling men’s 200m butterfly.
The 30-year-old led until the last 20 meters when he was overtaken by Lewis Clareburt who went through to win in 1:55.60. England’s James Guy took the bronze.
However, Clos, who has won his 18 medals in three Commonwealth Games, was not too disappointed. “We both knew what the others were going to do, except fair play with Lewis,” he said. “It’s always kill or be killed when I run.”