Reece Prescod is one of the most talented sprinters in Great Britain. But, days before his highly-anticipated debut at the Tokyo Olympics, he's working to get back into shape after succumbing to long nights of Call of Duty and junk food.

Prescod, 25, arrived at the Olympic Trials last month eight kilograms (approximately 17 pounds) overweight, leading to a disappointing performance. He made the team for Tokyo as a discretionary pick by head coach Christian Malcolm.

“It was weird when I was running in the trials,” Prescod said, per The Guardian. “I was well overweight and I got absolutely whooshed, absolutely battered. Which was humbling. My coach Marvin doesn’t sugarcoat it. Coming back from trials he said: ‘Reece, that’s just not you’. He said I needed to get my head down and train.”

Prescod was blunt about his unhealthy habits when talking to reporters upon arrival in Tokyo. Apparently, the combination of takeout food and gaming did him in.

“Deliveroo is just very convenient,” Prescod said. “Where I live in Canary Wharf, you’ve got Joe and the Juice in the morning and Pret. Then you come back for lunch. There’s Nando’s, there’s Gourmet Burger Kitchen. And Daryll Neita is one of my close friends and her family have an amazing Caribbean restaurant too.

“Then I jump on Call of Duty with the boys, and we’ll have a little snack break. And instead of eating a fruit salad, I might order from Cake and Custard Factory. Before you know it 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 do that for a week and the weight just ends up going on.”

Prescod emerged as a star sprinter at the 2018 European Championships. After suffering a debilitating hamstring injury that kept him off the track for nearly two years, he relocated his training to the U.S. earlier in 2021. Prescod did not respond well to his new training regime nor Florida (understandable) and fell back into his gaming ways.

 “Back in the day, back in lockdown, it was a serious commitment,” he said. “I was a serious gamer. I was a serious soldier. I was jumping on eight-hour shifts a day at least. But I think as time goes on, we’ve had a lot of wins. The game has evolved, I took a break from it, now I jump on one or two games with the boys, max.

“It’s not like before, it was very much like ‘training, go home, lads, all right what time are you on? Two? OK. Play 2pm to 8pm. Then food, and in Warzone. You just keep playing and playing. I’ve got a very addictive personality so once I get into something, I get into it fully.”

Reece Prescod is far from the first athlete to become distracted by video games. Washington Capitals forward Riley Sutter had to face questions about his Fortnite addiction in 2018 during the pre-draft process. That same year, David Price, then pitching for the Boston Red Sox, denied that his carpal tunnel syndrome resulted from Fornite, among many other examples.

Fortunately, Prescod seems to be back on track in time for the Olympics. He's been on a crash diet and dropped four kilograms since the trials. He hopes to be back at his ideal weight in time for the first round of 100M heats in Tokyo, which begins on July 31. He posted a 10.13 on a slow track in Gateshead last week — a promising sign.

“This holding camp I need to stick to the fruit salads and the water, chicken and ease up a little bit,” he said. “There will be no Cake and Custard Factory and all that stuff. It’s not good.”

That said, if Reece Prescod is able to perform well at the Olympics, he will celebrate with some sugar.

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

I assume they'll be time for Call of Duty then, too.