Adam Peaty flexes his muscles to set up Olympic 100m breaststroke final showdown with China’s Qin Haiyang, one of the 23 Chinese athletes to have failed drugs tests before Tokyo 2020

If Adam Peaty had any concerns about his chances of making history in Paris, those worries have been somewhat alleviated after the wave of excitement at La Defense Arena on Saturday.

He ran two races, took two wins and retired knowing, as usual, that he was the fastest man to reach Sunday’s 100m breaststroke final.

The addition of Qin Haiyang will undoubtedly cause some tension, both for Peaty and for his sport, but early indications point to Team GB’s golden fish rather than a Chinese athlete who has been living under an all-powerful doping cloud for months.

Of course, anything can happen in a final and it is necessary to ask whether Qin held something back in a sweltering heat and a tough semi-final, just as it is tempting to ask whether we can trust his journey to this Olympics. His failed doping test in 2021 and that of so many of his team-mates invite such questions.

But there’s no doubt that Peaty qualified with more comfort. Sure, they were close in timing – Peaty’s semi-final was won in 58.86 seconds, Qin won the other in 58.93 seconds – and yet one man took it a bit easier, while the other worked his ass off. A piece of paper; a different picture to the eye.

Peaty qualified for the final in 58.86 seconds, while Qin qualified milliseconds slower in 58.93

Qin (pictured) was one of 23 Chinese swimmers who failed a doping test for the Tokyo Olympics.

When Peaty survived the race, having managed to avoid his greatest rival in those rounds, he left the water with the temperament of a man who is feeling particularly good about his prospects.

Speaking to the BBC, he referred to a conversation he had with his three-year-old son George, in which he said: ‘He says, “Dad, are you the fastest boy?” Even though I haven’t seen him for two weeks, that’s all he cares about. I just want to be the fastest boy tomorrow, keep it simple.’

Simple indeed. Peaty knows full well that with one more win he will join Michael Phelps as the only male swimmer to win gold at three consecutive Games and despite all his problems with depression and motivation between cycles, he handles the pressure well.

Qin’s story is much more complicated, as we know. As one of 23 Chinese swimmers who failed doping tests for the Tokyo Olympics, and the shady way that information was covered up until April of this year, there is outrage that he and others from that group are here.

Peaty is seen as the favourite, with Qin (pictured) having just qualified in his heat and stuck in his semi-final.

Peaty (pictured) has battled and overcome depression throughout his career and is hoping to win his third Olympic title in the 100m breaststroke at the Paris La Defense Arena pool on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Peaty will face a strong rival in Qin, who won three golds at last year’s world championships

Qin, in turn, has spoken of plots against the Chinese, to test them more than anyone else. That has not exactly appealed to him.

What has never been in question is his talent – ​​he won three gold medals at last year’s world championships, so he is of course a huge threat to Peaty on Sunday. But to see him finish third in his heat, with only the ninth fastest time going into the semi-final, and then see him level after 60m in the night race, was shocking.

The same could be said of some of the times posted throughout the day. Peaty himself alluded to many competitors across all disciplines looking a bit like they weren’t quite as fast, and one plausible theory floated in Paris was about the use of a ‘slow pool’ at La Defense Arena.

The reason is the depth: at 2.15m, it is about 80cm shallower than the equivalent at the Tokyo Olympics. Deeper pools generate fewer waves, which in turn means less drag for swimmers.

That’s probably a less compelling reason than age for Peaty, who at 29 is almost two seconds slower than his world record, but you suspect he doesn’t care whether he hits the wall first on Sunday.

Team GB’s relay team, which also included Duncan Scott (pictured), missed out on a medal

Australia’s Ariarne Titmus (pictured) won gold in the women’s 400m freestyle

Despite all the excitement over his situation, there was disappointment for the men’s 4x100m freestyle team of Matt Richards, Jacob Whittle, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott, who finished their final in fifth place.

They are favourites for the 200m equivalent but were seen as a prime contender for a medal here and fell well short. Richards said: ‘It’s frustrating, we really wanted to try and get the medals tonight.’

In what was billed as the race of the night, Australia’s Ariarne Titmus defended her 400m freestyle title by pushing 17-year-old Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh to the wall. Katie Ledecky of the United States claimed her 11th Olympic medal by touching bronze.