ITALY NICS THE GLORY OFF PEATY

Martinenghi shock as he cruelly ends reign of Britain's champion

- Mike Walters

CHAMPIONS get carried out on their shields, so Adam Peaty need have no regrets about the end of his reign as Olympic 100m breaststroke champion.

In 59 seconds of thrilling drama, Peaty fell cruelly short of a hat-trick in the race he had dominated for nearly a decade.

But it was not China's Qin Haiyang, perceived as the biggest threat to Peaty, who finished one of sport's longest unbeaten runs in the pool.

In a massive shock, Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi took the gold in 59.03secs with Peaty sharing the silver with American Nic Fink just 0.02 back.

Staring down Qin next door like a spaghetti western gunfighter on the blocks, little did the Staffordshire pool terrier realise the real danger was in lane seven.

If you did not see that one coming, you are not alone.

This, though, is not a tale of glorious British failure.