Team GB star who left Adam Peaty bloodied in bust-up disqualified at Olympics
Team GB swimmer Luke Greenbank, who had a heated altercation with Adam Peaty last year, has suffered heartbreak at the Olympic Games.
A Team GB swimmer, who once had an altercation with Adam Peaty, has been disqualified from an Olympic event for an unusual reason. Luke Greenbank, who was involved in a fracas with Peaty last August, won his heat in the 200m backstroke, only to be thrown out of the race this Wednesday.
It was deemed that the Cumbrian athlete had swam more than 15m under water – the limit allowed in the competition – after the final turn of his race at the 150m mark, costing him a place in the semi-finals. The 26-year-old looked devastated after realising he had been disqualified. He said: “I don't know what to say, absolutely gutted. It's really annoying, I feel like I’m on good form.”
It’s less than a year since Greenbank was involved in a spat with Olympic gold medallist Peaty, who had to settle for joint silver in the 100m breaststroke in Paris. The incident occurred at British Swimming’s training centre in Loughborough after Peaty allegedly slapped Greenbank on the bottom and made a comment about his girlfriend, fellow Olympic swimmer Anna Hopkin.
Peaty and Greenbank are understood to have shaken hands after the incident. Amid reports that the clash left Peaty bleeding and needing stitches. A picture later appeared on social media of Peaty sporting a gash near his left eye.
British Swimming issued a statement at the time, reading: “An incident occurred at a recent training session that was quickly and effectively resolved by the athletes involved and the staff present at the session.”
Soon after, Peaty claimed the severity of the spat had been exaggerated. A source close to Peaty told Swimming World Magazine: “There were no punches, let alone stitches. There wasn’t even any slapping.
"Adam made a remark that Greenbank objected to, picked up a piece of training equipment and threw it at Adam. The cut wasn't intentional.”
Meanwhile, Peaty told The Times, via his management, that he and Greenbank had patched things up. He also said it was unfair that Hopkin had been dragged into the incident, insisting no comment had been made about the mixed 4x100m relay gold medallist from Tokyo 2020.
“Me and Luke are fine,” he said. “We had a moment and then shook hands immediately after some tension after a hard training set. I have no idea how Anna got dragged into this. I didn’t even mention Anna and it’s totally unfair on her.”