Adam Peaty reflected on the bigger picture in an Olympic year after collecting a bronze medal on his return to the World Championships 100 metres breaststroke final in Doha.
Peaty was sidelined from the 2022 event due to a foot injury, and he missed out last year after stepping away from the sport to prioritise his mental health.
After qualifying fastest for the final, 29-year-old Peaty did not threaten gold medallist Nic Fink, of the United States, who led from start to finish.
🔙 on the world stage, 🔙 on the podium 🥉👊@adam_peaty got 🇬🇧's swimming medal count ticking in the pool on his return to a 🌍 final, with plenty of promising swims across the board in the 2⃣nd finals session of #AQUADoha2024 👇https://t.co/JlGY7uMhuS
— British Swimming (@britishswimming) February 12, 2024
Fink clocked 58.57 seconds, with Italian Nicolo Martinenghi second in 58.84 and then Peaty, who has won the event on three occasions, taking bronze in 59.10.
“It’s bitter-sweet because we didn’t come here for medals,” said Peaty, who is set to be a major British podium contender at the Paris Olympics.
“I wasn’t really too fussed about aiming for those medals because that’s just not the target. We’ve come off a hard bank of work.
“Last night gave me a little glimmer of hope that I could get faster even today, and maybe I would have if I had executed those skills.
“I am disappointed in that essence, but I have also got to make sure I don’t wear it because it has been a long time since I’ve been in this.
“You’ve got to get that balance right. My happiness now in the sport comes from knowing I couldn’t have done anything more, and tonight I knew I could have done something more.
“But I said out there that if I had got what I wanted tonight and maybe it would have equalled the best possible performance I could have done here, maybe that would have been just as dangerous as not getting what I wanted because this is going to push me, to make sure we are executing those skills perfectly.”