Reece Prescod has accused UK Athletics of “emotional blackmail” in an explosive interview during which he defended his sudden decision to pull out of Britain’s 4x100m relay team.
Speaking after reaching Sunday’s 100m semi-finals, along with his fellow British sprinters Zharnel Hughes and Eugene Amo-Dadzie, Prescod also claimed that a member of UK Athletics’ hierarchy told him: “You know your reputation is going to be ruined if you do this,” after he decided to walk away.
On a dramatic opening day of these World Athletics Championships in Budapest, there was a silver medal for Britain in the mixed 4x400m relay, after the Netherlands’ Femke Bol spectacularly tripped five metres from the line and was overtaken by the US team.
More extraordinarily still, another Dutch star, the double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, also tripped during the final metres while leading the women’s 10,000m and lost gold to Gudaf Tsegay.
While that was happening on the track, Prescod was hitting back at UK Athletics off it. The Guardian exclusively revealed on Wednesday that the sprinter had quit the team after missing a series of practices. However the 27-year-old insisted he did so after hurting his hip while training with the squad last month.
“I had to see the doctor, get an injection, and it messed up my training in preparation for this,” said Prescod, who finished third in his 100m heat in 10.14sec. “There was a lot of pressure from the federation. It’s not that I didn’t want to be part of the team. I love the boys. Me and the boys get along. But I didn’t want to risk hurting myself.”
Prescod’s decision came as a huge blow, given that he is a sub-10-second man who anchored GB’s 4x100m men to bronze at last year’s world championships. However he said there was little chance of a reconciliation.
“The dust needs to settle for a little bit,” he said. “Because some of the conversations that I had weren’t necessarily the most pleasant. It kind of felt a little bit like emotional blackmail.
“I was like: ‘I don’t want to let down the country.’ And they were like: ‘You know your reputation is going to be ruined if you do this … and the media after this is not going to be a good place.’”
UKA has not commented on Prescod’s comments but in a week when it has emerged that its head of sprints, Darren Campbell, is not in Budapest, his salvo risks inflaming tensions in the British camp.
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However Prescod added: “I’ve spoken to the boys. I’ve apologised to them and said that ‘I never want to let you guys down. I don’t want you to paint me as the bad guy.’”
Britain enters day two of these championships with two more strong medal chances, in the men’s 100m through Hughes, who won his heat in 10.00, and Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who lies second in the heptathlon after four of the seven events. After the action was delayed due to a morning thunderstorm, the 2019 world champion secured victories in the high jump and the 200m to finish day one on 3,905 points, 93 behind the American Anna Hall.
“It was really nice to finish on a high,” said Johnson-Thompson. “Today has been one of the most gruelling days of heptathlon I’ve ever experienced. I think it was the delay – we were just waiting in the tent and you could hear thunder. My coach said we should put the Bond theme on in the background.”
But the British team will be delighted have an early medal on the board after Lewis Davey, Laviai Nielsen, Rio Mitcham and Yemi Mary John set a brilliant national record of 3min 11.06sec in the mixed 4x400m relay to finish behind the US, who set a world record of 3:08.80.
