Three-time Olympic swimming champion Adam Peaty says his Christian faith has helped him deal with his mental health struggles and handle the pressures of the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.

The Briton, 29, has taken time out in recent years to deal with periods of depression and alcohol problems.

Peaty says he arrived at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha this week “at peace”.

“Sport is not the real world,” he told BBC East Midlands Today.

“I spent most of my life kind of validating, getting my gratification or life’s fulfilment from my results and that led me to some dark moments.

“And it’s really living your life on a quantifiable measure of results, results, results instead of how are the people around me? How am I, how is my son, how is my family?

“All these things actually do matter, it’s not about your job, it’s not just about performance.

“And to get that, the only place I found it was at church.”

It is while he talks of God, his faith and attending Sunday sermons, that the heavily tattooed Peaty points to the latest and most prominent bit of ink on his body.

On his abdomen is a cross with the words “into the light” written below it.

“I really didn’t have a community outside of sport,” Peaty said.

“For me, the only fulfilment and the only peace is every Sunday at church. It gives me a nice balance.

“It is those everyday conversations or prayers with myself that keeps me inspired, but also keeps me on the right track that I’ve got a gift that I will use every single day.

“Why wouldn’t I use this gift?”

Peaty, a dominant force in breaststroke events for almost a decade, became the first British swimmer to defend his Olympic title when he took gold in the 100m race at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

He missed the 2022 World Championships because of a foot injury, and was unavailable last year after stepping away from the sport to prioritise his mental health.