Adam Peaty insisted that he was shedding “happy tears” after missing out on a third consecutive Olympic 100m breaststroke title by 0.02sec – and refused to blame a sore throat for his shock defeat.

Speaking after sharing silver with Nic Fink of the US in a desperately close race won by the Italian Nicolò Martinenghi from lane seven, Peaty admitted he had been crying. But he insisted it was only because he was proud of his comeback after burnout, too much drinking and a broken foot.

“I’m not crying because I have lost,” he said. “Because in my heart I have won. These are happy tears. If you’re willing to put yourself on the line every single time, I think there’s no such thing as a loss. And I’m so happy that the right man won.

“This is my sixth Olympic medal, three of them gold. And I think the 14-year-old that started out on this crusade would have taken that. It’s broken me this sport, but it’s also given me life. It’s given me everything I am.”

But he broke down again when asked what his three-year-old son, George, had said to him afterwards. “Well, he normally goes: ‘Daddy, are you the fastest boy?’” replied Peaty. “But not today. ‘He just said: ‘I love you Daddy.’”

Peaty’s time of 59.05sec was slower than he had swum in his semi-finals but he insisted that he had no regrets. “It’s been a very long way back,” he said. “I gave it my absolute all there. I did as well as I could.

Asked about the race, Peaty replied that he had been mainly focused on the two men who had been considered his big rivals, the Chinese star Qin Haiyang and the Dutchman Arno Kamminga. “In my head, they were the two people to beat and I got a little bit blindsided. When I touched the wall I truly believed I got it. But I am almost an older man here now. I can’t have that relentless every single day without a sacrifice of some sort.”

Peaty said that he had been “just 1% or 2% out” because of a sore throat he picked up on the morning of the final. But he added: “These are not excuses, these are just things athletes have to go through to find a way. And to see Nicolò win makes me so happy for him. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

After the race Martinenghi hugged Peaty, before saying it was a “dream come true to be Olympic champion”. “I have a chain with seven on it because when I was younger I used to train in lane seven,” he said. “And this morning my coach said to me maybe it would make me lucky.”

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