Olympic Swimming 2021: Men's 100m Breaststroke Medal Winners, Times and Results

Great Britain's Adam Peaty defended his 100-meter backstroke gold medal, winning the event on Sunday night at the Tokyo Games. 

Peaty finished with an unofficial time of 57.37 seconds, besting silver medalist Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands (58.00) and bronze medalist Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy (58.33). 

The United States' Michael Andrew finished in fourth (58.84). 

It wasn't one of Peaty's signature performances, at least by his lofty standards, as he didn't match his world record time (56.88 seconds, set in 2019) or his Olympic record (57.13 seconds, set at the Rio Games in 2016). But his second consecutive conquest in the event solidified him as the greatest short-distance breaststroke swimmer in history.

He also became the first British swimmer to ever successfully defend their gold medal. There are athletes who dominate their sport, and then there is Peaty:

And yes, he was excited about his win.

"I haven't felt this good since 2016. It just means the world for me," Peaty told the BBC after his win. "It's not who is the best all year round, it's the person who wants it more. Thank you to the nation for being behind me. This victory wasn't mine—it was a great swimming team, my family, my friends."

Outside of perhaps Simone Biles dominating in gymnastics, there wasn't anything more automatic at these Tokyo Games than Peaty dominating the 100-meter breaststroke. Yet again, he made his victory feel like a foregone conclusion.