Commonwealth Games 2022: Adam Peaty 'couldn't miss' Games on his doorstep

Adam Peaty says he would never have let a broken foot keep him from swimming in a home Commonwealth Games and was prepared to compete while injured.

The fracture ruled Britain's triple Olympic champion out of last month's World Championships in Budapest.

Peaty was told it would take 12 weeks to recover, but he returned to the pool in fewer than eight to prepare for the Birmingham Games.

"I don't care if I had a broken foot, I'd swim with one," Peaty said.

"I couldn't miss it. It's 50 minutes from Uttoxeter where I grew up. It's pretty much on the doorstep of where I've lived my whole life and I just want to go and smash it."

Adam Peaty continued on an intense training regime despite having a broken foot

The 27-year-old told BBC East Midlands Today that the injury had restored his "hunger" for success after years of dominating the sport.

Since 2014, when he won two Commonwealth Games gold medals in the 100m breaststroke and 4x100m medley relay, he has stormed to eight world titles, claimed three Olympic gold medals, amassed 16 European crowns and added another Commonwealth title to his honours list.

Peaty now intends to compete in four events for England in Birmingham, having entered the men's 50m and 100m breaststroke, and two relay races.

"Once something is taken away from you forcefully it gives you a perspective on what you do every day," Peaty said.

"It's not like it was a choice of mine not to go to the World Championships, I had a broken foot.

"Having that taken away made me feel that, yeah, this does mean a lot to me - I want to be a world champion, an Olympic champion, a Commonwealth and European champion.

"Where I have come from in 2016 [winning Olympic gold for the first time], when every year you win and win and win, that hunger will shave off each year. Now I just feel like it's back."

'We had a cry in the hotel'

The two months Peaty spent out of action came after he had worked his way back to peak condition following the decision to take a spell away from the pool to mentally recharge after the Olympic Games last year.

Peaty said suffering a broken foot while on a training camp in Tenerife was "tough" to take and that he has since "learned a lot" about himself.

"Me and [coach] Mel [Marshall] had a cry in the hotel room," he said.

"I invested so much into this journey, invested so much coming off the Olympics and everything was going well with that transition into the Worlds, then I broke my foot and initially it felt like all of that time and investment was a waste. But it really wasn't.

"There were [tears] for a few days and that is where the mindset comes in. It's OK to be weak, but it's a choice to come out of that weakness that defines who you are and that character.

"Yes, there have been a few negatives in the past year - I've been very busy, I had troubles after the Olympics where I needed to take time away from the sport and then I broke my foot and needed more time - but every single time I got knocked down, I found a way back."

Coach Marshall, who has worked intensely with her charge alongside a group of sports scientists during his recovery in recent weeks, admits Peaty had "the odds stacked against him" after suffering his first major injury.

"It was like seeing a life's work disintegrated in seconds," she said.

"There were tears and it was hard, but we had to adapt and move forward.

"In the 14 years we have worked together we've always found the positives and I think we have just stuck to that and found positives in a difficult situation.

"He is not going to be the best he has ever been, but in light of what happened off the back of the Olympics and the pandemic, he is as good as he can be and has given himself a really good chance."

Peaty says he "couldn't have tried harder" to get back into shape for the Games and has a warning for his rivals after a preparation like no other.

"I have no expectations, but at the same time I love to fight, love to race and I will just go for it," Peaty said. "I will be very hard to beat."