NO MORE PARTIES FOR PRESCOD THE PRO
REECE PRESCOD has quit partying and video games after admitting he needs to grow up if he is to become the world’s best sprinter. The two-time British 100 metres champion was 11th in the global rankings last season and is targeting gold at the World championships in Doha this year. To bridge the gap he revealed he has had to make lifestyle changes, including swapping nights out and consoles for self-help podcasts and reading. Prescod, 22, who is running the 60m at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham today, said: ‘To the public I’m the good British guy but to me there’s still more to do. If you want me to run 10.2 for the rest of my life then fine. But it’s about pushing myself to the next goal. ‘last year I was big on FIFA. This year I’ve replaced it with listening to podcasts and reading. When I’m driving, last year it was house mix all the way — boom, boom, boom — and two hours later I had a headache. This year it’s podcasts and I only listen to music when I’m at competition. Small decisions have made a big difference, not getting caught up in everything else. ‘Before I liked to go out and it was 1am and I’m like, “Why are you out — it doesn’t make sense”. Now it’s making professional decisions. It is about realising you have bigger goals than going out. ‘I train in loughborough — a university town. Everyone goes out at uni. My mates love going out. ‘But it’s realising I can’t go out unless it’s something like my friends’ birthdays. It is managing when and what you are doing on a night out. ‘It is having a decent balance of when to do it. You are a professional athlete, you are training, you are on funding. You are meant to be representative of British Athletics, that kind of thing. So you can’t have the top golden poster boy out every night with students because when you go out people recognise you and go, “Why are you out?” You have to represent yourself well.’