Adam Ramsay-Peaty ‘human first, then athlete’ after another Commonwealth bronze

Adam Ramsay-Peaty maintained that winning is no longer everything after he was forced to settle for a second bronze medal in the men’s 50 metres breaststroke final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Two days after cutting an emotional figure after his third-placed finish in his favoured 100m, Ramsay-Peaty cut a much more composed figure as he stressed that a shift in priorities is essential if he is to stay focused heading deeper into the 2028 Olympics cycle.

Watched once again by his pregnant wife Holly Ramsay from the stands, Peaty failed to haul his way back from a slow start and finished in a time of 26.94 seconds, well off Australia’s Sam Williamson, who won in 26.50, with Michael Houlie of South Africa taking silver.

“Super power looks very different now,” said Ramsay-Peaty.

His former extraordinary dominance has dimmed in recent years, following a year out in 2023 to prioritise his mental health, and a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

“Juggling babies with milk and having a toddler around is a different super power,” added Ramsay-Peaty, who has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship.

“I’ve still got that mentality – we just have to approach it very differently. I’ve been that person who wins all the time and it costs you pretty much everything and I wouldn’t say it’s worth it now.

“I think for me that period of time when I was undefeated for eight years, it was athlete first, then human. Now it’s human first, then athlete, which is a very fair price to pay.”

Ramsay-Peaty had vowed to put a “battle plan” in place after finishing third over the longer distance on Saturday, but he looked somewhat less than combative through the heats and qualified third for the final, behind Houlie and Williamson, the 100m gold medallist.

Despite winning three individual world titles, Ramsay-Peaty has never been able to assert his authority to such a degree over the shorter distance. He twice finished runner-up to Cameron van den Burgh at the Commonwealth Games before finally reaching the top of the podium in Birmingham in 2022, two days after a shock fourth place over 100m.

The addition of the 50m breaststroke event to the swimming programme for the Los Angeles Games has been cited as one of the reasons for Ramsay-Peaty’s decision to pursue at least one more Olympic cycle – but it remains to be seen whether he will consider it a price worth paying.