Adam Ramsay-Peaty broke down in tears after being forced to settle for a bronze medal in the men's 100 metre breaststroke final at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, having been upstaged by Jersey teenager Filip Nowacki.
The world record holder's hopes of regaining his title were shattered as he trailed in almost half a second behind winner Sam Williamson of Australia, with Nowacki taking silver.
It was far from the kind of return the three-time Olympic champion expected, having eased through his heats on Friday as he looked to make up for his shock fourth-place finish four years ago.
Cheered on by his fiancee Holly Ramsay in the stands at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Ramsay-Peaty was in third place at the halfway stage and could not make up the deficit, his time of 59.65 seconds well behind Williamson's 59.17.
Ramsay-Peaty is taking part in his fourth Commonwealth Games having clinched his first medals as a 19-year-old in Glasgow in 2014.
Since then he has become a fixture of the gossip columns after marrying Ramsay -- daughter of celebrity chef Gordon -- in December last year, and experiencing a rift with the majority of his family.
Ramsay-Peaty's win in the 100m in 2014 began two years of almost total dominance in the event. That streak came to an end in dramatic fashion in Birmingham four years ago when he finished off the podium.
Peaty endured a difficult 2023 when he took time away from the sport to address mental health concerns. He returned in 2024 with silver and bronze medals at the Paris Olympics and the World Championships in Doha respectively.
Ramsay-Peaty had cruised through his semifinal in 59.19 seconds, ahead of Williamson and Jersey's rising star Nowacki, the current world junior champion.
Ramsay-Peaty reached into the crowd to kiss his pregnant wife's tummy shortly after the end of Saturday's race, then said: "It's hard because I know how hard I work. I know the s--t I've been through, which is no fault of my own, but it does take its toll.
"I'm not crying because it's bronze instead of gold. I'm crying because I know I am better than that. I feel like I couldn't have put any more in and that's where it hurts, because I'm like 'What's the point of all the metres every day, what's the point of being exhausted all the time?'
"'What's the point of having to say no to family events because you can't go to training?' It has to mean something and for me it has to be human excellence and that is not excellence for me. So that's the emotion that is unfortunately coming out."
The 31-year-old, who will get another chance to win a fifth career Commonwealth Games gold medal in the 50m event that begins on Sunday, reflected on the touching moment with his wife.
"She's always going to be proud of me and I think as a father, it doesn't matter if you come home with a gold, as long as you come home with a teddy," smiled Ramsay-Peaty.
"The emotion is something I'm always going to carry and I'm never going to be afraid to show weakness because it's so important in making stronger people, making stronger men, stronger fathers, stronger husbands, and it's a realisation of how hard I work."
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England's William Ellard and Georgia Sheffield both set new Games records as they won the respective men's and women's S14 200m freestyle finals. Sheffield pipped her teammate Poppy Maskill, who took silver.
England's Ollie Morgan won a silver medal in the men's 50m backstroke final, finishing behind South Africa's Pieter Coetze. England's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay squad took silver behind Australia, with Wales in third.