Furniss not surprised by Peaty Fina swimming honours
BySportsbeat
Published 05/12/2016 at 13:25 GMT
Adam Peaty was awarded Fina's Olympic Performance of the Year award on Sunday, and British Swimming head coach Bill Furniss insists he always knew the 21-year-old had the mental attitude to become an Olympic gold medallist.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Peaty blitzed his way to the top of the 100m breaststroke podium at Rio 2016, swimming a world record-breaking time of 57.13 seconds – more than 1.5 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
It was an effort which gave the Peaty Team GB's first male swimming gold since 1988, and the first gold medal of the Games in Brazil.
And for Furniss, watching Peaty win his medal was no fluke, insisting he boasts the mettle needed to be at the very best of elite sport.
"He's got tremendous internal fortitude and application," said Furniss.
"He knew what he wanted and he is prepared to pay the price. A lot of athletes want it but aren't willing to pay the price.
"Or they will be willing to pay the price for a short amount of time until the sacrifice becomes too hard and too uncomfortable."
The difference between Olympic gold and leaving empty-handed can often come down to minute details, but Furniss believes there is a much bigger picture to look out for.
It's something he believes demands the most attention, and he is hopeful it can pay off across the next Olympic cycle, culminating in Tokyo in four years' time.
"Everyone talks about marginal gains in sport and I hate it because the biggest challenge in sport is to get people doing the basics well," Furniss added.
"If you don't have the basics well, the fact that you might have a slightly faster suit or if you are a cyclist that you have got a slightly more aerodynamic helmet then it really does not matter.
"Those things make differences by hundredths of a second. The best way to become world class is to constantly apply yourself and to do the basics extremely well. That's the biggest challenge in sport: achieving consistency."
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