Olympic breaststroke champion Adam Peaty insists he heads to Paris 2024 this summer at peace with himself and under no pressure.

The 29-year-old Briton is chasing a third successive 100m gold, with ‘three-Peaty’ headlines at the ready, after taking time out from competition for mental health reasons.

“I guess [I’m] more relaxed in my approach,” Peaty said.

“A little bit more knowledgeable of myself and, I guess, when I look myself in the mirror, I’m very peaceful.

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“As soon as you stop running from yourself, I think that’s when you start living your true self and your true life.

“And in sport terms, I think that’s when you’re most dangerous for everyone else because you’re just so at peace.

“I’m not afraid to lose, I’m not afraid to win. How can you beat an athlete like that?”

Peaty, who would join US great Michael Phelps as the only male swimmers to win gold in the same event at three Games, called himself an underdog ahead of Paris.

“For me, going into these Games and especially these last 12 months, I’ve enjoyed being the person with the bow and arrow and not the one being fired at,” he said.

“There’s no pressure really on me. Yes, I’m Olympic champion and people are going for that crown but I haven’t really won anything since 2022 or 2021.

“I’m okay with that because I’ve been the underdog and I enjoy being an underdog, I enjoy fighting my way through the rounds.”

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Along with his three Olympic golds – having also won the 4x100m mixed medley at Tokyo three years ago – Peaty is an eight-time world champion and 16-time European champion, while he has broken world records 14 times.

But, after climbing out of the pool last year to deal with mental health issues and alcohol abuse, Peaty discovered the mindset he used to fuel his achievements was unsustainable.

“When you achieve what I have in the sport, Olympic golds and world records, that comes at a cost,” he said. “We all know that sport is extremely demanding.

“I started in a place where I had to take a break from the sport, a break from life really because it’s so demanding. Now I’m looking forward to Paris in a place where I put a really good qualifying time down, with a few months still to improve from that point.

“It’s been an enjoyable journey. I think balance, you’ve always got to have enjoyment.

“I’m definitely enjoying it even though its extremely tiring what we’re trying to do at the moment. It’s good.”