Peaty on his return to the pool, LA 2028 and Gordon Ramsay's speech

Adam Peaty won 100m breaststroke Olympic gold in 2016 and 2021 and also has one relay gold medal [Getty Images]

Adam Peaty is back for more, again.

The three-time Olympic champion, who almost quit the sport before the Paris Olympics and considered doing so after taking silver in the French capital, returns to the London Aquatics Centre on Tuesday.

It is a key step on the road he hopes will lead to a fourth Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 - and possibly another Olympic gold.

"The next two years are probably going to be the hardest of my career," Peaty tells BBC Breakfast.

"There probably won't be much winning, but the one win that does matter is LA."

• 'Don't give up' - why Peaty was convinced to go again
• Peaty content after night of pure Olympic emotion
• Peaty aims for LA 2028 after 50m events added

It is almost a year since Peaty, who got married while swimming took a back seat, confirmed he will go again.

He made the decision after it was confirmed the 50m breaststroke event would be added to the schedule in 2028. It gives Peaty a second shot at more individual golds - the chance to add the 50m title to the 100m medals he won in 2016 and 2021.

He has raced here and there in recent months with mixed results, but will compete over both distances at this week's British Championships - a crucial step which he hopes will lead to the Commonwealth Games, World and European Championships and America's west coast.

"It's like tasting an amazing steak and then having to go back to a McDonald's burger," he says.

"The Olympics is the one that excites me. That is the one that really gets me out of bed every day, the one I dream of.

"We have to set that path now.

"Two years out, it is about how much racing and experience can we gather to give the best performance in LA."

Peaty confident of avoiding burnout repeat

Peaty was beaten to a third successive gold in Paris by Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi, having contracted coronavirus in the days before the final.

"With the cards I was dealt I swam out of my skin," he says. "I shouldn't have got a silver medal."

Before the Paris Games, Peaty shared his struggles with injury and his mental health, describing the period as a "self-destructive spiral".

He says he has not allowed himself to think about what another Olympic medal might mean but remains confident similar issues will not return as he chases more success in LA.

"Can we avoid burnout? Absolutely," he says.

"It is the logistical and strategic thinking we have to do.

"I look at my life without sport and I wouldn't be 5% of the man I am, have friends I have and wouldn't have been able to deal with problems I had.

"With sport giving me what it has given, the price is the price."

'It was always going to be hard to beat Gordon's wedding speech'

Peaty believes he is in a "very good frame of mind" as he makes his return in London.

He won gold in the 50m at the Edinburgh International Swim Meet a month ago but finished fourth in the 100m, beaten by 18-year-old British junior world champion Filip Nowacki.

He's settled in his family life too, having married model Holly Ramsay, the daughter of TV chef Gordon, in December.

"It gives an incredible amount of peace, the life we've got together," he says. "But also that I can do this incredible thing which I call sport."

He adds that swimming "will humble you" and is a "hard path", but "what makes that path a lot easier is having my wife, my son and friends around me".

Peaty credits the support of his famous in-laws, too, with whom he completed his debut triathlon as part of Team Ramsay last August.

But thinking back to his wedding speech, he concedes Gordon probably won the prize for best toast of the day.

"It was always going to be hard to beat Gordon's speech - Gordon is never going to find it hard to make a room laugh."