Reece Prescod: One of Britain’s Fastest Men Gives You His Olympian Advice

I also use visualisation. The day before a race I visualise myself going to the track, how I’m going to interact with people, and how I’m going to perform.

Sometimes I spend 10 or 15 minutes meditating and doing breathing routines. I use an app called Calm to get myself in a chilled state.

I find reading helps too. If I’m in the hotel room before a race, I read motivational books. At the moment I’m reading The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters. Other books that have helped me include Brain Saver by Anthony William, Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, and The Art of the Good Life by Rolph Dobelli.

The highlight of your career so far?

It was in 2017, when I made the final of the London World Champs and I got the opportunity to meet and race against Usain Bolt in front of 70,000 people. He was one of my childhood heroes. I remember waiting in the cool room before the race, sitting next to him and putting my spikes on. He just said: “Well done for being here, kid.” Then, on the track, he was in the centre and I was in lane seven. Running against one of my idols was amazing.

The essential gym exercise you hate to do?

Core training. For every walk of life you need core, because it’s the centre of your body and the glue in the middle. It requires a lot of concentration, discipline and consistency. A minute in core feels like an hour in normal life. Planks or raises, for example, are really annoying to do but so beneficial. It’s like when you make dinner and you eat your steamed veg first, then enjoy the rest afterwards.

Of all the possible running events, which is the toughest?

Even though my event is very explosive and fast and requires lots of energy, I feel middle distance running is a lot harder – the 5kms, 10kms, the 15kms. You have to keep going and going and going. You have to train 70-mile weeks. The ultra marathons are really challenging too.

One piece of kit you couldn’t live without?

I have a very fancy piece of equipment called a 1080 Sprint. It has a motorised resistance device and I attach it to myself when I run. I can also attach it the other way round so it pulls me along at a certain speed. That way my body gets used to that speed. It’s the best gadget.

How low do you believe the 100 metres world record can go?

Usain Bolt’s 9.58s record is absolutely insane. It’s going to stay with the current record for a long time. The fastest race I’ve raced in was won with 9.79s and that was lightning-quick. I can’t imagine someone being more than 2/10^thof a second quicker than that. He’d have to be a superhero, basically. Dare to dream.

The Olympian you would most like to meet?

Jesse Owens [Black US athlete who won four gold medals in front of Hitler at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin]. I’d love to pick his mind to find out what it was like to run at the time and, mentally, how he composed himself. I’ve been to the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. You can feel the history of the country. It’s interesting how a symbolic moment in sport can influence the whole world.

Off the track, where is your favourite place to go running?

At the start of the season I do longer runs. When I say longer runs, I mean no more than 15 or 20 mins. And I’ll do fartlek training – a minute on and a minute off, maybe 15 times. But only for four weeks at the start of the season. I live in Loughborough and I might run in local parks there: Bradgate Park, or grass runs at Brockington cricket pitch. If I’m in London in the off-season I might run round Battersea Park or Hyde Park.

Best piece of advice you have ever been given?

I watched a documentary on Kobe Bryant called Kobe Bryant’s Muse. I took a lot of knowledge and insight from that. The underlying message from it is: ‘Keep going’. You can’t quit. Within my sport I’ve always been able to keep going through many different challenges. That documentary taught me that, with belief, dedication and consistency, you can always get there.

If you could invite five sports stars to dinner?

Cristiano Ronaldo, my all-time hero; Roger Federer, because he’s a very classy gentleman; Max Verstappen, as he’s a fearless driver with some real fire in him; Conor McGregor – he has a new film out [Road House] and I went to his secret premier the other day; Alex Morgan – I feel women’s football has come on a massive long way and I’d love to pick her.

What music really gets you pumped up for training?

House music. Solid groove, 90s Ibiza, rave culture. But also hip hop and rap. The Prodigy can get you really hyped. I would have loved to be a teenager in the 80s. My dad used to be a DJ when he was younger. In his loft he still has loads of vinyl.

What are your goals for the Paris Olympics?

My aim for every competition is to get on the podium. With the 100m sprint, you can’t always call it. It’s like the Cheltenham races. You might have a random horse that wakes up and says ‘I’m going to win today’. For the relay, our aim is to get us a medal.