Adam Ramsay-Peaty faced backlash with his “sore loser” comments about his bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games.
The Olympic swimmer, 31, was third in the men’s 50 metres breaststroke final at the sporting event in Glasgow on Monday – two days after his third-place finish in his favoured 100m race.
He was watched on from the stands by pregnant wife Holly, 26, the daughter of celebrity TV chef Gordon Ramsay, who was seen holding her baby bump, while his estranged mother Caroline commented on the result on social media.
Ramsay-Peaty finished in a time of 26.94 seconds, well off Australia’s Sam Williamson, who won in 26.50, with Michael Houlie of South Africa taking silver.
The athlete broke down in tears after missing out on the 100m win.
When a BBC reporter asked him: “I can see you’re emotional. Can you just explain what those emotions are after that?” Ramsay-Peaty looked unimpressed.
He said: “Really? I think… I don’t know. I think I just worked a lot harder than what it says on the scoreboard, to be honest, but I think you’ve got to understand that that is this sport.
“You don’t get more than a minute to prove yourself. Make one mistake and it’s over. I don’t know, I just think I deserve more. I know sport isn’t about what you deserve, or even what you work for.
“I think you’ve got to keep it in perspective that we’ve still got four days left of this competition, and we’ve got Europeans, and emotion is expensive, but I just know I’m a better athlete than that.”
Critics accused him of having an “entitled” attitude, with one writing on X: “BBC have pushed Adam Peaty for over a decade now, still no-one likes him. Stuff like this shows you exactly why.”
Another added: “I'm sure the two guys who finished in front of him also worked hard and deserved what they got. [Sore] loser springs to mind.”
A third posted: “There’s a time to be classy and humble Adam - and congratulate those that finished ahead of you.”
Others rushed to defend Adam, with one penning: “He’s quite honest about how he’s feeling.
“Reporters like to stick mikes in athletes’ faces as soon as they’ve finished a disappointing performance just to catch that raw emotion. Then blame them when they express said emotion.”
Someone else agreed: “How have the BBC pushed him any more than they would any other person who was clearly the country's greatest ever swimmer?”
His mother Caroline - who was reportedly banned from his December wedding to Holly - wrote after his bronze medal: “We continue to support Adam from afar. He’s our son whom we love, whom we supported to reach his aspirations.
“Our love our time our sacrifices were given freely with no expectation of financial reward, just genuinely given with the love as any mother and father would do for their child.
“There is something or someone at play wanting to destroy our family completely, but I have news for you. We are strong, we love and we are always there for each other.”
She continued: “There are many trolls on social media and making comments about us, which are truly evil and very untrue.
“The very nature of our strength as a family has helped us move past the nastiness, the lies that have been told about us.
“We have nothing to prove, we just want to be left alone.
“I’ve taken this for eight months and enough is enough, leave us alone to move on with our life and enjoy our growing family.”
On Monday, Ramsay-Peaty paid tribute to his wife Holly after his second bronze. The couple tied the knot last December and recently announced they are expecting their first child together.
He said: “Super power looks very different now.”
“Juggling babies with milk and having a toddler around is a different super power,” added Ramsay-Peaty, who has a five-year-old son from a previous relationship.
“I’ve still got that mentality – we just have to approach it very differently. I’ve been that person who wins all the time and it costs you pretty much everything and I wouldn’t say it’s worth it now.
“I think for me that period of time when I was undefeated for eight years, it was athlete first, then human. Now it’s human first, then athlete, which is a very fair price to pay.”
He also responded to critics “who want to hurt me and my family with comments” after his “bittersweet” bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
He added: “We are athletes, doing something we love and that is our deepest passion.
“As it’s said, be the change you want to see in the world, and, I want a better world for the next generation of athletes. Love always wins.”
The swimming star hit the headlines last year after reports of an ongoing family feud with his parents – Mark and Caroline – and they missed his lavish wedding to Holly.
Ramsay-Peaty added that he is “thankful for my wife, my friends, my team, and the people in the stands who cheer my name” and described competing in his fourth Commonwealth Games as “the greatest honour”.
The couple reportedly met through her sister Tilly when the two took part in BBC dancing programme Strictly Come Dancing in 2021.
They announced their engagement in 2024.
