SPEND JUST five minutes in the company of Reece Prescod and you are easily won over.
You quickly realise this is a determined guy, who has changed around his entire life in the pursuit of achieving sporting glory.
A talented sportsman, who could have played three different sports before choosing athletics.
A hard-working soul, who used to undertake various jobs, often late into the night, to pay the bills.
An intelligent and curious man, who talks as quickly as he runs, and never forgets a face.
So, when Prescod, 23, says he wants to become Olympic champ and finish his career as Britain’s fastest man, you lose the scepticism and believe every word.
So many people in his position say this. Prescod does it with genuine conviction.
Relaxing at Loughborough’s HiPac training facility, Prescod told SunSport: “Winning Olympic gold is obviously an aim. It’s what is expected of me but it’s making that expectation a reality.
“You ask yourself how do I achieve it? What are the things to make yourself an Olympic champion?
“I talk with my coach ‘Well, I want to be an Olympic champion. What programme are you going to put together that will make that a reality?’
“I ask the same question to my gym coach, the medical team at British Athletics, all the support staff — how can we make Reece an Olympic champion? You ask everyone the question and know what we want in the team. And try to plan from there.”
Britain has had four men’s 100m Olympic champions — Reggie Walker (1908), Harold Abrahams (1924), Allan Wells (1980) and Linford Christie (1992).
Christie, 59, remains the quickest man to wear GB colours. His record of 9.87sec from Stuttgart in 1993 is the benchmark.
Prescod has a 9.94sec personal best, won 2018 European 100m silver and is ranked eighth in the world this year.
Reece Prescod (Athletics)
Age: 23
Place of birth: London
Career highlight: European 100m silver (2018)
National Lottery funding: “Through the National Lottery’s funding of the British Athletics World Class Programme, I have access to a large range of support (facilities, medicine, therapy, strength and conditioning, nutrition, biomechanics, psychology, training camps). I am based at the National Performance Institute in Loughborough, which is the engine room of the British Athletics World Class Programme.”
He believes it is only a matter of time before he becomes national record-holder.
He said: “That’s my main target. With the right conditions, the right day, a good start, why not?
“Probably three guys — myself, CJ Ujah and Zharnel Hughes — are capable of getting it.
“It tends to happen that someone runs a fast time and then everyone goes around it. If I raise the bar, then someone else thinks ‘I have to do that, too’.”
Thanks to his sporty dad, Adrian, Prescod had a choice of games while growing up.
Football was one option. He was linked to Woodford Youth and the Leyton Orient academy but felt his technical ability was hindered by starting too late.
Then it was tennis. Prescod played junior tournaments and often practised with his dad.
Next up was basketball, which he played to a decent standard, even having trials for England.
Track and field proved the winner with the Enfield and Haringey club benefiting.
The Londoner said: “I learned skills in each different sport. In football, it was my general fitness, leg conditioning.
“Tennis taught me hand-to-eye co-ordination and balance.
“Basketball taught me about jumping and reacting. So, when I got to athletics I already had a decent background.
“I won school sports day aged 11. I went to county and district. My grandad passed away around that period. I was in a down mood one day.
“My mum said ‘Why don’t you go to an athletics event — that might cheer you up?’
“We went to Lee Valley athletics. I did my first open meeting and ran 11-something in my first race. I came off and was buzzing. I thought ‘Maybe I could do this’.”
The only problem during his teenage years was Prescod’s speed was held back by long hours working in part-time jobs.
Prescod grafted at a local Homebase, stacking shelves, mixing paint, giving DIY advice to customers.
He also served drinks behind the bar of Woolston Manor golf club in Chigwell, usually between 6pm and 3am. Not ideal for fast times when he had to train the next morning at 9am.
It was only when the youngster received a two-year junior contract from Nike that he could devote himself fully to running.
Yet Prescod did come close to jacking it all in about three years ago after a succession of injuries to become an ESTATE AGENT.
Prescod said: “It was that or college. My mum spoke with my coach ‘Right, if he doesn’t get something from athletics or any help, he’ll do that’.
“I’ve come from a working-class background. I have to work. It’s more the principle of working. It’s not whether it’s a high-paying or low-paying job.”
In the end, the only house move Prescod oversaw was his relocation from London to Loughborough, where he now trains under respected coach Jonas Dodoo.
Over the past year, Prescod has made significant lifestyle decisions to ensure he lives better and runs smarter. He has cut out the number of times he listens to hyperactive loud music. And he curtailed his addiction to computer games.
Often he would play them late into the night before a training session.
Prescod explained: “I’d train 10am to 2pm, go back and eat. Then you are on the PlayStation until 11pm or 12am. I’d eat with my headset on.
“I got to the point where I was playing too much PlayStation. I’d play Fifa. Then it was Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.
“I’ve a projector in my room. So you can imagine, the whole wall in my bedroom is the game!
“It became a natural realisation to quit. And I changed to watching box sets and listening to podcasts instead.”
Prescod has carefully managed his schedule this year, running only six times, because he is aiming to peak at the IAAF World Championships in September in Qatar. And then, of course, it is the big one in Japan in 2020.
Prescod said: “The fastest guy ain’t going to win the champs. It’s the strongest guy.
“It’s the guy who has the most capacity. The guy who can deal with it mentally.
“Often people are like ‘Oh, he’s the new, young sprint sensation. You’re going to be the fastest’.
“When you are professional like myself, you say congrats you’ve run a time once. But everyone has done that before.
“Now do that same thing next to all the top guys. And then do that week-in, week-out.
“Not just at home. Do it when you have flown nine hours, raced three times. Fly back and race a week later. That’s what it is like.
“Once you make that professional jump on the circuit, it’s not about that one-off time. It’s doing it when it matters.”
National Lottery funding has supported more than 6,000 athletes since 1997, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support. Each time you play The National Lottery, you are transforming British sport. British athletes have won more than 860 inspirational Olympic and Paralympic medals since National Lottery funding began.
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
