BBC slammed for Adam Peaty coverage as Olympics fans have same complaint

The BBC has come under fire for its Olympics coverage (Image: BBC)

The BBC has come under fire from disgruntled viewers over its Olympic coverage.

In a tense showdown on Sunday night, Adam Peaty was emotional as he just missed out on clinching Team GB's first gold at the Paris Games, securing silver in the 100m men's breaststroke instead. The 29 year old swimmer, who is romantically linked with Gordon Ramsay's daughter Holly, aged 24, was the centrepiece of the BBC's broadcast from the Aquatics Centre.

Yet, some audience members expressed their frustration, claiming they switched to Eurosport due to what they perceived as an 'unfair' emphasis on the father-of-one. Accusations were levelled at the BBC for its alleged disproportionate focus on a single event particularly Adam's performance by showing repeated video packages while other thrilling events were happening concurrently.

On X, previously known as Twitter, one viewer raged: "Thank God Eurosport have the Olympics on, least we actually get to see the sports, BBC have far too much talking. There are other swimmers as well not just Adam Peaty. One swimming race shown pathetic from BBC."

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Another complained: "We've seen a dozen Adam Peaty VT's we don't need another one.", reports the Mirror.

Adam and Holly shared an emotional kiss after the race (Image: Getty Images)

A third let off steam: "The BBC's obsession with Adam Peaty is incredibly weird. He's not dead, FFS", and a fourth reflected: "Totally painful. Over 30 mins on Peaty: the build up the VT, the swim, the interview, the interminable discussions...."

In another corner, a viewer bemoaned that Adam's race "wasn't even live and with no times or split times and result," adding: "Watch Eurosport mate, all live with results and graphics."

Adam Peaty was visibly emotional as he narrowly missed achieving his historic third consecutive Olympic gold medal, losing out by a mere 0.02 seconds in the 100m men's breaststroke final.

Having secured gold in both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the swimming sensation was on the cusp of equalling Michael Phelps' record of winning the same individual event across three Olympics. His attempt to secure this milestone in Paris was surpassed on Sunday night.

Rebecca Addlington broke down in tears during the live broadcast (Image: BBC) window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles20240723.min.js"

Compounding the disappointment for Peaty were the numerous challenges he's faced: coping with depression, the end of his relationship with the mother of his child, recovering from a fractured foot, and confronting issues with alcohol. Despite these hurdles, he bounced back to clinch third place at the World Championships in February and seized a joint-silver in the recent Olympic contest.

Yet, Great Britain still yearns for their first gold in the Paris Games.

Adams partner Holly, who went public with him in June the previous year, has lauded him as an exemplary father to his son George, whom he shares with ex Eirianned Munro.

Throughout Adams Olympic journey, Gordon Ramsay's eldest daughter has been a fixture by the poolside, shedding tears beside young George as Adam expressed his mixed emotions to BBC Sport: "I'm so happy that I can race the fastest in the world and still come second. I'm not crying because I lost, these are happy tears because I said to myself I would give it everything I've got and I have. And I can't be upset about that."

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BBC slammed for Adam Peaty coverage as Olympics fans have same complaint

BBC slammed for Adam Peaty coverage as Olympics fans have same complaint

BBC slammed for Adam Peaty coverage as Olympics fans have same complaint

BBC slammed for Adam Peaty coverage as Olympics fans have same complaint

BBC slammed for Adam Peaty coverage as Olympics fans have same complaint