Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Olympics: Peaty leads Britain to mixed relay gold in record time

Olympics: Peaty leads Britain to mixed relay gold in record time

ADAM PEATY summed up the secret to Britain's swimming success in one word - 'belief' - after helping bring home 4x100m mixed medley relay gold in world record time at the Tokyo Games on Saturday (30).

The quartet of Kathleen Dawson, Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin smashed China's previous mark by 0.83 seconds as the event made its Olympic debut and the women joined the men on the podium.


Freya Anderson also collected a gold after swimming the freestyle leg in the heats.

Britain have now taken four golds from the Tokyo pool, and seven medals, matching their best haul at the 1908 London Games.

They can add to the tally in the final men's 4x100 medley on Sunday.

"One word has changed the whole team and it's 'belief'," declared Peaty, who swam the second breaststroke leg with an astonishing split of 56.78 and now has three career Olympic golds.

"We've got champions who believe we can win. We have champions who believe we can get world records. If you've got more belief, you can build everything around that. We've shown it now. We were a second under the world record nearly.

"I never thought I could be a three-time gold medal winner being a breaststroker. I just want to jump, I have so much energy."

Teammate Guy credited Peaty - a not-so 'secret weapon' - with providing much of that belief in the first place.

"He's changed British swimming massively," said the 25-year-old, who swam the butterfly leg in 50.00 - his fastest ever split - after pulling out of the individual butterfly to save his energies.

"We know that Adam's going to win, we know Adam's going to deliver.

"And when we saw him win the 100 breast for the second time at an Olympic Games, that's when for us it really started."

Backstroker Dawson slipped on the wall at the start, with Ryan Murphy putting the United States into the lead at 50 metres, and handed over to Peaty with Britain in sixth place.

The breaststroke champion lifted the team to fourth, while Lydia Jacoby of the United States lost her goggles, and Guy romped into the lead to give Hopkin a big enough margin for victory.

In a novel twist, the mighty 100m freestyle champion Caeleb Dressel swam the final stretch against seven women but could not make up the ground, the United States ending up fifth.

China and Australia took silver and bronze, with Italy fourth.

"I beat Dressel," exclaimed Hopkin, who swum the 100m in 52.00 and joined Dawson and Anderson as Britain's first female gold medallists in swimming since Rebecca Adlington in 2008. "I tried not to look at where he was."

Dressel was generous in defeat: "That was an insane world record, they hit every split perfect. They had the pieces today so we got beat by the better team it seems," he said.

(Reuters)

More For You

Gill-Shubman-Getty

Shubman Gill anchored India’s innings with a century, helping them post 356 after being sent in to bat. (Photo: Getty Images)

Gill’s ton leads India to 3-0 ODI series sweep over England

INDIA secured a 142-run victory over England in the third ODI on Wednesday, completing a 3-0 series sweep at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Shubman Gill anchored India’s innings with a century, helping them post 356 after being sent in to bat.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah, named the 2024 International Cricketer of the Year, has been sidelined since sustaining a lower back injury during the Sydney Test in January. (Photo: BCCI)

Bumrah ruled out of India's Champions Trophy squad, Harshit Rana named replacement

INDIA's Champions Trophy campaign suffered a setback as fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the tournament due to an ongoing injury.

Bumrah, named the 2024 International Cricketer of the Year, has been sidelined since sustaining a lower back injury during the Sydney Test in January. The injury also kept him out of the white-ball series against England.

Keep ReadingShow less
shubman-gill-bcci

Shubman Gill plays a shot during the 3rd ODI between India and England in Ahmedabad. (Photo credit: BCCI)

England bowl first in Ahmedabad ODI as India rest key players

ENGLAND captain Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to bowl against India in the third one-day international in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

England, trailing 2-0 in the three-match series, are aiming for a win ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rohit-Sharma-BCCI

Rohit brought up his 32nd ODI hundred with a six off Rashid but was dismissed soon after, caught by Rashid off a Livingstone full toss. (Photo: BCCI)

Rohit’s century powers India to ODI series win over England

INDIA secured the ODI series against England with a four-wicket win in the second match on Sunday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead ahead of the Champions Trophy. Captain Rohit Sharma led the chase with a 90-ball 119, helping India reach the 305-run target in 44.3 overs.

A floodlight failure delayed India’s innings for 30 minutes, but it did not affect Rohit, who struck seven sixes and 12 fours. Earlier, England posted 304 all out with one ball remaining, opting to bat first at Barabati Stadium.

Keep ReadingShow less
Northern-Superchargers-Getty

Ben Stokes and Matthew Short of Northern Superchargers walk out to bat during The Hundred match between Manchester Originals and Northern Superchargers on August 11, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sunrisers Hyderabad to acquire Northern Superchargers in £100 million deal

INDIAN Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad is set to become the first full owners of an English Hundred team after agreeing to buy Yorkshire’s Northern Superchargers for a reported £100 million.

The Sun Group will be the third IPL-linked investor in the eight-team Hundred competition, following Reliance Industries, which owns Mumbai Indians, and RPSG, which runs Lucknow Super Giants.

Keep ReadingShow less