WORLD PEAT-ER
By SunSport’s Rob Maul in Tokyo
Supreme Swimmer Adam Peaty reckons only the toughest survive an Olympics – even more so in the first held during a global pandemic.
Team GB’s gold medal banker, 26, was in relaxed and refreshed mood yesterday as he chatted before the start of these troubled Games.
The event – which was postponed by 12 months – will have NO fans due to the Covid crisis and there are dozens and dozens of safety restrictions to follow.
But confident Peaty, the reigning 100m breaststroke champion, said: “I’ve always believed the mind is the athlete, the body is simply the means.
“So if you’re not in there mentally, you can train or you can race around the world as fast as you want all year round, it doesn’t matter.
“You’ll probably see it these Games in all sports – people who’re popping out these times all year at home in a comfortable arena where they can control pretty much all the controllables.
“But as soon as you put those athletes in an uncontrollable situation such as the Olympics, where it’s high pressure, those athletes change.
“That’s the power of the Olympics – it makes and breaks athletes. For me I know I thrive in that arena, I love that arena.”
