Former Team GB sprinter Reece Prescod says he is now open to using performance-enhancing drugs at this summer’s Enhanced Games.
Prescod, 29, a former Olympian and the fourth-fastest man in British history with a personal best of 9.93 seconds in the 100 metres, had previously said in an interview with the BBC that he would not take anything banned in regular competition, and that his motivation was primarily financial.
The event, scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in May, allows athletes to consume substances, under medical supervision, which are prohibited in mainstream sport. It is lucrative, too, with venture capitalists generating a large prize pot, which includes $500,000 purses for individual events and $1 million for a new world record.
Prescod, who announced his retirement from international athletics in August last year, is in Abu Dhabi alongside about 40 other athletes for a three-month training camp at the Erth Hotel. Asked about his previous claims of racing clean, he said he was now prepared to “get involved” if he feels it's right for him.
“What I said was, at that current time, I hadn't taken anything or partaken in anything,” Prescod told The National. “My initial focus was to get back in training. But like I said, I've obviously got great medical supervision from doctors. I'm going to train to a certain level. I will have a conversation with the enhancement team and just see what that potentially could look like for me.
“I think for now, initially, the focus is just getting the basics done. Because if you've not got your foundation, you've not got your winter base, you've not got your speed, you've not got your technical advice, they are going to be the things that are going to be the game changer. But then the enhancements potentially take you further.
“But like I said, we've got the best doctors, we've got the best medical supervision. So, when I've done all my tests and all my levels and figured out where I'm at, I'll see where the situation lies. I'm not going to completely rule it out for now. I’m open to the conversation.”
When asked what that would involve taking, Prescod declined to name exact substances. He said the Enhanced Games team plans to create bespoke concoctions targeting the various aspects of athletic performance. It has been reported that steroids, growth hormone and testosterone are all available.
“They're going to segregate it into different components,” he said. “One may be geared towards endurance, one may be geared towards speed and power, another will be geared towards recovery, another will be geared towards focus. So, it may be stimulants and stuff like that. It may be for recovery, it may be for power.
“I think once everything happens it will be widely public knowledge. But I think for now, we're just in the early stages of getting it developed, so we're just figuring it out for now.”
Dealing with the critics
After the American pair of Fred Kerley and Marvin Bracy, Prescod is probably the highest-profile track star on the roster. The London sprinter has been an integral part of the Team GB ecosystem for almost a decade, winning silver in the 100 metres at the 2018 European Championships, bronze in the 4x100m relay at the 2022 World Championships, and reaching the Olympic semi-finals in Tokyo.
With the Enhanced Games roundly condemned by the UK athletics hierarchy, his participation has not gone down well with his former bosses. Jack Buckner, chief executive of UK Athletics, described his involvement as “appalling”. Prescod said Buckner should focus on preparing the team for the 2028 LA Olympics.
“It's a very strong word from Jack. But again, I know Jack on a personal level, so it was a bit of a random outburst,” said Prescod.
“But ultimately, like I've said to Jack, I've got no bad blood against him. I think the best thing for him is to probably just focus on all the athletes he's got to look after now. And, you know, make sure that towards 2028, he's really challenging for the medal table. He's got so many stars. So, I think [he] should just focus on building that, building brand awareness, helping British athletes do what they need to do. He shouldn't lose any sleep over me or anything like that.”
Prescod says that despite some initial apprehension, he has the blessing and support of his friends and family – and of his former Team GB colleagues.
He said: “Me and Zharnel [Hughes] are cool. Nethaneel [Mitchell-Blake], CJ [Ujah], [Richard] Kilty, Ojie [Edoburun], Jeremiah [Azu], Louie [Hinchliffe]. All the boys, like, we're cool. They're obviously competing on that side. And I want them to go and win medals, run as fast as they can. But when I made a decision, they said, 'You know, bro, continue what you're doing'. And now I'm just in a different space. So they're just going to support me from a different perspective, if that kind of makes sense.”
Athletes need a 'fair shot'
Despite signing up for the Enhanced Games, Prescod insists he has never doped in the past. He makes a clear division between his previous career and this latest chapter. He says they are two different domains with different sets of rules.
Maximilian Martin, co-founder of the Enhanced Games, claimed that “nearly half of elite athletes admit anonymously to using banned substances even though only one to two per cent of them are caught”, referencing a 2017 WADA-commissioned survey. Prescod is unsure if doping is as widespread as that, but accepts high-profile breaches have done serious damage to the sport's reputation.
He said: “IOC, WADA, USADA and UKAD and all those guys, they're obviously continually developing their process, but there are people that have slipped through in the past … I think it's one of those situations where testing needs to improve. Because, like I said, for the people that are competing in that space, they want to have a fair shot.
“We obviously [have] different rules here, where the rules are clear, everyone's under the same situation. So we don't have that element here. There's eight guys on the line and we all have access to the same thing. It just comes down to race execution and genetic talent, which is a fair place to compete.
“[Half of athletes] is a strong number. It's a very strong number,” he continued. “You go and do your research, you go look at some of the times. It's happened in sport … the dirtiest race in history.”
Prescod referred to the 1988 Olympic final, won in a then world-record 9.79 seconds by Ben Johnson. He was later disqualified when traces of stanozolol were found in his urine. Six of the eight men on the line that day in Seoul failed a test during their career. In the modern era, the likes of Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin have all failed tests and served bans.
“I understand the narrative, I can understand where it comes from. I'm not going to be shy. I'm not going to be shy to it,” Prescod said. “But I just think you pray and hope the people that are doing the testing, they improve their measures, they do the best that they can. And if people are caught, they're caught. And if they're not, then that's very unfortunate.”
Asked if he thinks doping remains rife in sprinting, Prescod said: “I don't, necessarily. Like I said, you hope not, if that makes sense. Every athlete that races in Olympics or World Championships – they're all tested rigorously.
“I've been privileged enough to race the majority of the world's fastest guys. I've had the pleasure of racing someone like Usain Bolt, who's just a phenomenal athlete. I've raced someone like a Justin Gatlin, who's had a violation and then come back.
“I've raced everyone. I never had that issue. I always ran clean. I ran to the best of my ability.”
Athletes need support
Among the criticisms aimed at Prescod is that he is setting a bad example for younger athletes. Although he accepts the financial rewards on offer at the Enhanced Games could potentially lure emerging talents away from the sport's traditional pathway, he says it is up to the governing bodies to do more to reward and protect competitors.
In the UK, funding cuts are being felt by coaches and athletes, while sponsorship contracts are increasingly performance-based, meaning injuries can result in major reductions.
“It could do, potentially,” said Prescod when asked if younger athletes could be tempted to join the Enhanced roster in the future. “But then I also think, in the space that they're in, there will be some noise [caused by Enhanced Games] and there might be some more support in it, if that makes sense.
“I've said this and I've been adamant on this. I don't think within that space, I don't think reductions should be a thing.
“I think every athlete should be given a fair contract, know the budget they're dealing with, and if they perform better, they get given bonuses.
“There's a thing with, and not a lot of people know, in track and field whereby whatever money you [get from] sponsorship, if you don't achieve your targets for the season, if you get injured, you'll lose half your money. It's probably the only professional sport where the reductions happen.
“Fortunately, here, you know, we're given a good package, we receive monthly support, there's good bonuses, there's appearance fees, there's nutritional [support], everything to support athletes. If I want to see family, you know, you get to bring a family member out here, which is amazing.
“In certain aspects of this, this is how professional sport should be in terms of looking after the athlete. If you ask Max [Martin] and some of the guys, it's athlete first, we look after our athletes, and that philosophy alone is what they need to adopt, I think, in the other space.”
