Reece Prescod lays off the cakes as he targets Olympic medal

Sprinter Reece Prescod is out for his just desserts after kicking the puddings and pastries ahead of the Olympics.

The 25-year-old is aiming for success in Japan having piled on the pounds thanks to his sweet tooth.

Prescod was a stone overweight at last month’s British trials and finished fifth in 10.33 seconds but was the third man selected for the 100m behind CJ Ujah and Zharnel Hughes.

He has now shed the weight having quit America after a brief stay training under renowned coach Mike Holloway and is ready to run in Tokyo.

“I don’t know if it was American food or if I love Deliveroo too much,” said the European silver medallist, who is fourth in Britain’s all-time 100m rankings.

“It’s just very convenient sometimes. I can do meal prep but when Deliveroo gets in my hand…and where I live by Canary Wharf you’ve got Joe And The Juice in the morning, Pret, then you come back for lunch time, there’s a Nando’s, there’s GBK.

“Daryll (Neita) is one of my close friends as well and her family have an amazing Caribbean restaurant, so I could just do that.

“Then I jump on Call of Duty with the boys, and then we’re eating, a little snack break, and instead of having a fruit salad, I might order from Cake and Custard Factory.

“Before you know it, it’s a jam tart, a pink icing cake with some custard, and then I’ve ordered two and an Appletiser and then I go to bed.

“You’ve done that for a week and it just ends up going on. This holding camp I need to stick to the fruit salads, the water, chicken and ease up a little bit. There will be no Cake and Custard Factory and all that stuff. It’s not good.

“I was 87kg. My race weight is normally 79-80kg. I don’t know if I spent too much time in the gym doing rehab or just smashing upper body too much and eating a bit too much food.

“It was just happy food. I’m 83kg right now so I’ve gone down a little bit and I’m not going to have lunch the next few days.”

But if he does win a medal in an open 100m field next weekend – with Christian Coleman serving a ban for missing three drugs tests and no Usain Bolt at a Games for the first time since 2000 – Prescod will treat himself.

He said: “Oh yeah, of course, I would. They had carrot cake yesterday down at dinner. It looked amazing, the coaches and staff were eating it, I was eyeing it up but had a fruit salad instead.

“If I win a medal or do well, you will see me at the dessert bar, definitely.”

Prescod won European silver behind Hughes in Berlin three years ago and believes the Britons have a chance in Japan.

He said: “CJ has been in awesome shape this year, Zharnel has obviously proven himself and everyone wants to contend for a medal. We all just want to do well as a group collectively, just do well for Team GB.

“It’s not Reece v Zharnel v CJ. It’s us lot versus the world, us lot versus the Americans and Jamaicans.

“Bolt’s obviously not there anymore, Christian’s not there for now – he’s back next year.

“As long as we execute our races I think we’ll all do well. There’s definitely a chance of a medal.”