It was hardly surprising as he had just won the Olympic 100 metres breaststroke final with a world record and a remarkable 1.56 seconds ahead of second-placed South African defending champion Cameron van der Burgh.
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“I gave it everything I’ve got and I did it for my country”.
“I’m not going to take that for granted, I know those guys will step up as well”.
Lizzie Armitstead claimed Britain’s first medal at London 2012 by winning silver and she will hope to put a turbulent week behind her by going one better in Rio in the women’s road race, which gets under way at 4:15pm BST.
Tweeting her congratulations to the victor and his coach, Melanie Marshall, she wrote: “Well you have done it @adam_peaty you have made it, your hard work paid off. Congratulations to you and @massivemel”.
Giving a thumbs up as he received his medal, the patriotic champion smiled ear-to-ear and – in contrast to many victorious Olympians – sang the national anthem before waving to his family in the crowds.
Peaty’s mother and father, and girlfriend, cheered from the pool-side as he came in a clear victor – a second and a half ahead.
Peaty said: “She is one of the best coaches in the world, not just because she sends me up and down the pool each day, but she understands every athlete, she understands their needs and their character”.
And the English ace, 21, said: “That history behind it will be very good to have. He has got two world records in two days”.
Moorhouse’s gold came in Seoul with a come-from-behind win, but Peaty led from the start with a blistering performance. “But to come fourth in my first Games and to have two personal bests in a day is not too bad”.
It was later reported van Vleuten is in intensive care with three cracks in her spine and concussion, but UCI Women Cycling said that apparently there was “no serious medical problem”. Doctors said she was conscious and speaking.
Andy Murray gets the defence of his Olympic men’s singles title under way with a first-round encounter against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki on Sunday.
Katie Ledecky will go for gold and plenty more in the 400m freestyle, while Sarah Sjostrom qualified in Olympic-record time for the 100m butterfly final. The Scot is third on the centre court before also taking on Brazilians Andre Sa and Thomaz Bellucci alongside brother Jamie in the doubles.
But there was frustration for Great Britain’s men’s hockey team, who were held to a 2-2 draw in a group stage match by New Zealand.
In the table tennis Liam Pitchford and Paul Drinkhall safely negotiated their way through the second round.
China’s Sun, the London 2012 champion, was second in 3mins 41.68secs and Gabriele Dettie of Italy third in 3:43.49.
Hannah Miley was pipped to a podium finish in the 400m medley by less than a fifth of a second, while Max Litchfield also came close to bronze in the men’s race.
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“I touched the wall and looked around and thought ‘where is everybody?'” Peaty told reporters.
