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Adam Peaty has had “the worst week” of his life from a physical standpoint and has accepted he will not be at “100 per cent” for the rest of his Olympics campaign and misses out on a key race tonight.
Peaty had struggled with a sore throat before claiming silver in the men’s 100 metres breaststroke final last Sunday and after his condition worsened, he tested positive for Covid on Monday morning.
He had two days of “bed rest” before returning to the pool on Wednesday and came back into competition on Saturday morning as he helped Team GB reach the final of the men’s 4x100m medley relay.
Afterwards, Peaty described how difficult the past few days have been as he has also had to contend with other ailments including an ear infection – although it is unclear whether this is connected to him having had coronavirus.
. He is not included on Great Britain’s mixed 4x100m medley relay team that goes in defence of their Olympic title tonight. Kathleen Dawson, James Wilby, Anna Hopkin and Duncan Scott are the Team GB four.
“It’s been a rough, rough week but hopefully we’ll find our way through the next 36 hours,” said Peaty earlier on Saturday morning.
“(It’s) probably (been) the worst week of my life in terms of how my body is – and that is no exaggeration.
“Everything’s come at once and since Covid, I’ve been waking up every day with a different thing.
“The medical team has been brilliant and it’s just a victory getting on that starting block. Now hopefully, that will give my body a nice, little push for tomorrow.”
Peaty, alongside Oliver Morgan, Joe Litchfield and Matt Richards, finished second in their heat and qualified fifth fastest overall, with France – led by Leon Marchand – topping the time sheet.
Marchand, who collected his fourth individual gold medal on Friday night, swam the breaststroke leg in a separate heat and is now set for an eye-catching showdown against Peaty on Sunday.
But Peaty, whose leg of 59.16 seconds was just 0.11 secs slower than his time in last week’s men’s 100m breaststroke final, admitted he will not be firing on all cylinders this weekend.
“I’m glad I’ve got a heat swim,” added Peaty. “It’s my first hard stuff since the final on Sunday last week.
“If I’m not well, I’m not well. I’ve been brought up in the system by (coach) Mel (Marshall) that if you’re not well, you still go.
“I’ve only got two days left. I’m not going to be 100 per cent, I know that, but I’ll give my best effort and that will hopefully give me a nice time.”
