He smashes 50m record TWICE on way to final

BRITISH superstar Adam Peaty blitzed two world records in one day as he stormed into the final of the 50 metres breaststroke at the World Championships. Peaty won gold in the 100m breaststroke event on Monday but missed out on a world record. Here yesterday, though, the defending champion was devastating in the 50m, setting a new best of 26.10sec in the morning heats before breaking the 26sec mark in the evening semi-final. The new benchmark stands at 25.95sec and it was the fourth time he has broken the 50m world record, having first done so in Berlin in 2014. Peaty finished a remarkable 0.73sec clear of his closest rival, Brazil’s Felipe Lima. And today he will seek to replicate the double triumph he achieved in Russia two years ago by adding the 50m gold to his 100m title. Peaty said: ‘I can’t believe it. I just went out there and did what I do. I thought I was going to go slower in the semi-final because I was a little bit less energetic. I was on such a massive high in the morning and it was hard to ignore that I did a world record and to try to get myself ready emotionally. ‘The hard work goes on in the gym. Hopefully I can get down to mid-25 (seconds).’ Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington hailed Peaty’s achievement as ‘insane’, adding: ‘It is the first time in a long time I’ve seen him genuinely shocked.’ In the men’s 200m freestyle, James Guy was unable to defend his gold medal as China’s Sun Yang triumphed. Guy finished fifth while fellow Brit Duncan Scott missed out on the bronze by 0.04sec to Russia’s Aleksandr Krasnykh.

Adam Peaty goes for gold in the 50m breaststroke at 5.17pm. Coverage is live on BBC2 from 4.30pm today.