The Mail on Sunday

Peaty smashes world record on way to gold

Peaty smashes record as he powers to stunning win

- By Hugh MacDonald

IT was all decided in the blink of the eye. The key to Adam Peaty’s sensationa­l world record in the European Championsh­ips last night was not the 57 seconds it took him to complete the 100m breaststro­ke. It was, rather, the four hundredths of a second that separated him from South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh in April.

Peaty was second in the 50m event on the Gold Coast. It is not a position he relishes. He came into Glasgow declaring that his appetite for victory had been restored. He devoured his opposition with the voracity of a narked shark.

The 23-year-old Englishman — a winner of five world titles and an Olympic gold — became a 10-time European champion after finishing in another postcode from his competitor­s. His fellow Briton James Wilby was 1.54sec behind in second with Anton Chupkov of Russia third in 58.96.

Peaty’s only authentic rival now is time. The only man to go below 58sec in the event, he has long set his sights on ‘Project 56’, his attempt to break the 57-second barrier. It was a fingertip away last night.

‘That is the curse of Project 56,’ he joked. ‘But it is all about two years’ time and the Olympics for me.’

Peaty, who demoralise­d his oppo- nents by surging clear in the second 50m, said: ‘I knew I was in great shape. The plan was to go out and make a statement.’

That statement found a huge echo in the raucous roar from the crowd. If the Tollcross arena shuddered, Peaty admitted it was the outcome on the Gold Coast that had a significan­t impact.

‘ It was all about passion and emotion and it was the letdown of the Commonweal­th Games that fuelled me down that final straight,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to just win. I want to dominate.’

Great Britain rounded off a successful day in the pool by picking up a bronze medal in the inaugural 4x200m freestyle mixed relay. The team of Stephen Milne, Craig McLean, Kathryn Greenslade and Freya Anderson finished behind Russia and gold medal lists Germany in 7min 29.72sec.

The home team also picked up two silver medals on the first day of rowing finals in Strathclyd­e.

The men’s four of Thomas Ford, Jacob Dawson, Adam Neill and James Johnston never threatened runaway winners Romania but edged France to take second place.

The women’s eight edged Holland into silver in a three-team competitio­n which was also won by the Romanians.

But it proved a generally disappoint­ing day for the host nation, who failed to win medals in four other finals. In the cycling events, Elinor Barker was unable to back up gold in the team pursuit as she finished 12th in the women’s points race, while Great Britain narrowly missed out on a women’s team gymnastics medal as they were pipped to bronze by the Holland by less than three points.

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 ??  ?? LIGHTNING: Adam Peaty celebrates after setting a new mark in Glasgow
LIGHTNING: Adam Peaty celebrates after setting a new mark in Glasgow
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