Gold Coast: Adam Peaty has gone full cycle, defending his Commonwealth Games title in the 100-meter breaststroke on Saturday to complete a four-year unbeaten run in the event.
Since winning at Glasgow in 2014, Peaty has won an Olympic and two world titles over the distance and is showing no signs of ending the streak.
The 23-year-old Englishman set a Games record 58.84 seconds to secure gold, finishing more than a half-second ahead of compatriot James Wilby and South Africa’s Cameron Van Der Burgh was third.
“Even though it is a gold medal, four years undefeated and it has completed the circle or the quad, I’m not happy with that form because it is not the best version of me,” Peaty said. “That was the first time ever I did not feel in control of the race — I let the event get to me and thought about the result not the process.”
Chad le Clos became the first man to win the same event at three Commonwealth Games when he led from start to finish in the 200 butterfly and finished in a games record time of 1 minute, 54 seconds. Le Clos entered the games hoping to beat the record of 18 career medals at the games but can’t do that on the Gold Coast now after missing the podium in two of his first three events. Still, the 200 fly gave him a 14th career medal at the games.
“I wanted to get the three-peat,” said le Clos, who shot to fame at the 2012 London Olympics by stunning Phelps in the 200m butterfly in one of the sport’s great upsets.
“No one’s done the triple before so — Michael Phelps of Commonwealth!” added the pin-up with a wide smile, after beating Australian David Morgan by more than two-and-a-half seconds.
“It means a lot. Tonight was all about history — it was all business.”
The swimming golds were more evenly distributed on Day 3 after Australia’s dominance in the pool the previous night.
Canada’s world record-holder Kylie Masse edged Australian Emily Seebohm by 0.03 seconds to win the 100 backstroke in a games record 58.63 and Tatjana Schoenmaker won the women’s 200 breaststroke.
Cate Campbell won the 50 freestyle for the home team and the Australians finished off the pool program with victory in the women’s 4x200 freestyle relay in a games record 7:48.04.
In gymnastics, Nile Wilson beat fellow Englishman James Hall in the individual all-around final to claim his second gymnastics gold medal of the Games.
Wilson, an Olympic bronze medallist on the horizontal bar, did just enough to win with a combined 84.950.
