PARIS -- You likely have already watched Sunday night's men's 100 metre breaststroke final, but if you didn't then let's start with a spoiler: Adam Peaty lost. He left Paris' La Défense Arena with a silver medal around his neck, while Italy's Nicolò Martinenghi wore the gold.
Peaty was pipped at the line by 0.02 seconds by the man in Lane 7. He lost a slow race -- due in part to the shallow depth of the pool -- that was over two seconds slower than his 2019 world record time. It ruined his hope of becoming the first man since Phelps to win the same swim race at three straight Olympics. He didn't even win the only silver medal -- he had to share second place with Team USA's Nic Fink, who, while a world-class breaststroker, is also a full-time engineer.
Why then, with tears in eyes as he spoke to the reporters after the race, did he claim a victory?
"It doesn't matter what the time says on the board, I know that in my heart I've already won," Peaty said.
The most intriguing questions surrounding Peaty before Sunday's must-watch final wasn't whether he would win, it was how he would feel once he learned if he had. Peaty has spent the past three years since Tokyo on a personal journey that he said had changed his relationship with an Olympic gold medal. He has battled with his mental health and with alcohol. It saw him deal with defeat for the first time in eight years and form a new perspective on his career. Now it has seen him miss out on gold at an Olympics for the first time.
After it was said and done, Peaty conjured his emotions and kept embracing his new outlook.
"I'm not crying because I've come second, I'm crying because it took so much to get here," Peaty said. "It's just incredibly hard to win it once and to win it again and again and trying to find new ways to do it."
The truth is Peaty never needed the gold medal. He had nothing to prove. He is already a two-time Olympic champion, without doubt the best men's breaststroker in history. He transformed what was possible in the event in a way few athletes ever do.
Before Peaty, the world record stood at 58.46s. He broke that in 2015 as a 20-year-old, becoming the first person to swim under 58s. He then began a quest to swim under 57s, labelled "Project 56." It resulted in his 2019 record of 56.88s. At one time, Peaty held all of the top 20 fastest times in men's 100 metre breaststroke history.
"I've been so grateful to win so many medals and be so dominant and have such performances that make me the first man to go 57, first man to go 56. But I'm so happy to be here with this medal tonight, because it's challenged me in a thousand ways to be here," Peaty said.
Maybe the only person he had anything to prove to was his son, George. "My son asked me, 'Daddy, are you the fastest boy in the world?' I sure hope so, but not today. Not today," Peaty said. "I really, truly believe this moment was meant to be, because in my heart I'm so happy."
"I did it for my son," he added. "This whole 14 months has been to show that you can literally be at the bottom of the bottom and try and find a way through, and try and medal. I'm just so happy that I can race these boys and still put on a hopefully good show for everyone else."
Shortly after speaking to reporters, it was time for Peaty to attend the medal ceremony. Standing on the second rung of the podium, tears filled his eyes. Afterwards, he stepped off and found his family and son after the race and hugged them tight.
Now the question for Peaty turns to what he will he do from here? We already know what the answer will be in Paris: He will compete in the two 4x100-metre relays (men's and mixed) where he will hope to add to what will now be six Olympic medals on his mantelpiece back home. Those races could be the final pictures of Peaty at an Olympic Games.
His mother, Caroline, has already said she wishes he would retire and lead a normal life. She has seen him go through "suffering" in the past two years in this latest bid for gold.
Peaty has suggested he won't make another appearance, although it remains to be seen what he will do. A younger Peaty would have been chewed up at an agonising defeat like the one he suffered Sunday night. He would fear that everything he had built would be taken away, gutted that his great Olympic career could end in defeat.
Only, he doesn't see it like that.
"In my heart I've won and these are happy tears because I said to myself that I would give my absolute best every single day and I have," Peaty said.
"You can't be upset about that."