‘What drives me to train is to be world champion – the best’
Prescod insists tonight’s 100m final is just a stepping stone, writes Ben Bloom in Berlin
For a man yet to win an international medal, or even officially break 10 seconds for 100metres, Reece Prescod is notably assured. When he speaks there is an overwhelming sense of knowing. Sure, Prescod may win the European title today – he is justifiably one of the favourites, alongside British team-mates Zharnel Hughes and Chijindu Ujah – but when he hints at greater things to come, it is not mere flippancy.
Perhaps the injuries that ravaged his junior career have moulded him this way, or the fact he almost packed it all in to become an estate agent after leaving college. Maybe those years spent watching his peers do what his body would not allow have channelled his remarkable determination.
Whatever it is, should he win gold in Berlin the medal will be treated exactly the same as any other he has collected in his career – put out of sight in a box as soon as he returns home.
“I don’t wake up to be the best in Europe,” said Prescod, 22. “What drives me to train is to be world champion, to be the best. If I win the Europeans my coach will say well done, but he will give me a day or two off and then I have to get ready for [his next race in] Birmingham.
“I know what I am here for and I have to do it and move on. I am a good athlete but I could be better. As much as it is going well, there is so much to do. If I can get to my best and win here, that is a thing ticked off. Small targets and tick each bit off. I would love to take a break but I can’t. It is making sure I continue to work hard.”
Unsurprisingly, that focus extends away from the track. Victory in the same Berlin stadium where the likes of Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt achieved such astonishing feats would doubtless thrust Prescod further into the spotlight. But it will not be him who reaps the financial benefits.
“I come from a single-parent family and my mum’s helped me out for years, so as long as she’s good, that’s my priority,” he said.
“My mum’s got bills to pay and I’ve got to help her with that, so as much as I would love to live a glamorous footballer life, I’ve still got real life to deal with. I can’t ignore my mum. She’s looked after me as I’ve grown up, so I can’t
‘Mum’s got bills to pay, so as much as I would love to live a footballer life, I’ve real life to deal with’
make it all about me now – I’ve got to make sure she’s all right.
“I’m not really one for frivolous things because they don’t really mean anything. If I went to the Gucci or Louis Vuitton store and bought something, everyone would go, ‘That’s cool’. But is it really cool? I’d rather just be a champion.”
With Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut an unknown quantity on his return from injury, the main threat to Prescod today is likely to come from Hughes. While Prescod’s eye-opening 9.88sec run in May was aided by an illegal tailwind, Hughes has proved himself on multiple occasions this season, breaking 10 seconds three times, including the 9.91sec run that moved him to second on the British all-time list. All this after a rather traumatic start to the year. In January, the Anguillan-born sprinter survived an attempted armed robbery at his training base in Jamaica, when he fled a gunman firing at him.
Three months later, Hughes thought he had won his first major title, only to be stripped of Commonwealth 200m gold after the race for colliding with a neighbouring runner in the home straight.
One possible explanation he has offered for his success on the track is his unconventional hobby of cruising around at 10,000 feet.
Nicknamed “Captain” by his former training partner Bolt, Hughes mixes athletics with flight school and has a long-term ambition to own his own airline on the Caribbean island.
“Being up there feels really good,” he said. “It’s a whole different scenery away from track and field. If you know you have a tough day coming up, I go up there, fly, enjoy the setting, hear the other pilots speak on the frequency, me speaking to let them know I’m there – it’s a whole other ball game and it helps me cope with track and field.”
Indeed, just two weeks after his 9.91sec run, Hughes made history in the air by breaking his flight school’s solo flying record.
“It was the first time I’d been allowed to fly on my own – that was pressure – but I knew I was ready,” he said. “The preparation, the emergency procedures I had to go through, I just needed to stay relaxed and that’s what I did.
“If I can fly a plane by myself, I can handle anything. I’ve been through a lot this season with the gunshot situation and the Gold Coast [Commonwealth Games] so, for me, it has moulded my mental aspect. It helps create a strong mindset. That’s me with regards to this race. I’m really, really chilled.”