Fourth! This was the swimming equivalent of Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson. The USA soccer team defeated England in the 1950 World Cup. A moment when everything we thought we knew about a sport was thrown together and spun discordantly off its axis. It was very close – with England’s James Wilby taking gold in 59.25, ahead of Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook (59.52) and Sam Williamson (59.82). Peaty, meanwhile, came home in 59.86 – three seconds off his world record. It’s true that Peaty had arrived in Birmingham looking dangerously half-baked after a broken foot in May left him booted and delayed. However, after his heat wins and semi-final here, no one expected this. Not when Petty had never lost a 100m race in his career. “It took a broken leg to get him away from me,” Peaty said. “But I chose to fight.” He did it. And bravely came forth on his shield. Initially everything seemed to be going to script as Peaty led on 20 meters and began his familiar surge at 30. But this time there was no muscle separation from the pack. At the corner, the 27-year-old was still leading, but only by 0.13 seconds, and his pursuers felt blood. Petey, the absolute Alpha Male of swimming for so long, tried to hold them off but with 25 meters to go they started to swallow him. Wilby overtook him first. Then Stubblety-Cook. Before, right at the finish, Williamson broke his bronze too. “I felt really good in the 50m,” admitted Peaty. “I just don’t know what went wrong. With 25 meters to go I had nothing in the tank. It felt good, but it’s two seconds slower than the Olympics. Obviously something went wrong this cycle.” Intriguingly, Peaty also spoke of a “major reset”, before adding: “Obviously there’s a lot of things going wrong with my training schedule. But sometimes when you don’t compete all season it bites you when it matters.” This was his first defeat in the 100m breaststroke since he moved up to the senior ranks in 2014, during which he has won three Olympic golds, eight world titles and almost 20 European and Commonwealth medals. For good measure he also holds all 20 of the top times in history – with no one else breaking 58 seconds and he has also broken 14 world records. However, none of that mattered on this crazy night in Birmingham. England’s Alice Tye won gold six months after having her right leg amputated below the knee. Photo: Tim Goode/PA “It was a very slow final for me,” said Peaty, who will now go back to the 50m on Monday. “I can’t even remember when I went so late. Of course it’s a shock. Of course it’s disappointing, but there you have those moments to go faster next time.” Wilby, meanwhile, was rightly enjoying his stunning upset. “I’m shocked and surprised,” he said. “I was always after him. He is a fantastic athlete and will probably kick my ass later in the calendar. But I’m proud of it.” And so it should be. Meanwhile, there was more success for England in the S8 100m backstroke as Alice Tai won gold in 1:13.64, six months after having her right leg amputated below the knee due to worsening clubfoot. There was also a bronze for England in the 4x200m freestyle relay behind Australia who took gold in a new world record 7:39.29 and Canada who took silver. Earlier in the evening, South Africa’s Chad Le Clos broke the record for most Commonwealth Games medals – 18 – as he took silver in a thrilling men’s 200m butterfly. The 30-year-old led until the last 20 meters when he was overtaken by Lewis Clambert who came through to win in 1:55.60. England’s James Guy took the bronze. However, Clos, who has won his 18 medals in three Commonwealth Games, was not too disheartened. “We both knew what each other would do other than fair play with Lewis,” he said. “It’s always kill or be killed when I fight.”