Two-time Olympic breaststroke champion Adam Peaty has said he has changed his relationship with winning after a difficult spell since the last Games in Tokyo.

The standout swimmer for Team GB, Peaty, is hoping to make history by being the first swimmer since Michael Phelps to win the same event at three consecutive Olympic Games. However, his preparation for Paris 2024 has not been without controversy due to struggles with alcoholism and mental health.

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“My relationship with a gold medal now is I know that it won’t solve any of the problems that I want it to,” Peaty said at a Team GB prep camp in Reims.

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“When you’re younger, you’re like: ‘If I get a gold medal, it’s gonna solve so many problems.’ And it does, but it’s not going to solve the problems that I seek [to resolve]. And obviously now I do it to win, I want to be the best. I am the best. I’ve still got the world record. And I’m going to have a good challenge come Paris. That’s the only thing that gets me excited.”

Peaty ranks as the best breaststroke swimmer of all-time having broken the 100m breaststroke world record five times. His existing world record (56.88s) set in 2019.

Peaty has been transparent about his mental health issues since the Tokyo Games, which led him to take a hiatus from swimming and think about retiring. But he claimed that since moving to Paris, his perspective has changed.

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“When you have children, when you hug them, you realise that it is something greater than anything can ever provide,” Peaty said.

“If I touch the wall, if it’s not the result I want I’ll be disappointed. But before, in comparison, in 2021, even 2022 and way before that, I’d be almost tearing myself apart that my life isn’t worth living, because I lost. That isn’t sustainable because that’s not an attitude to have.”

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“I’m not defined as a human by that. Maybe an athlete and maybe other people w