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The 22-year-old from Croydon has had to balance training with his demanding job as a police officer which saw him play a key role in the crowning of King Charles III before heading to Italy.
Reid finished seventh in the men’s 400m T20 with a time of 52.48 seconds, 0.6 seconds short of his personal best.
“It wasn’t a personal best or season’s best,” Reid said. “But I believe in the circumstances, with what I have been balancing this year, I was just going out there to try my best, execute and do well.
“It is not really about the position, I want to be continually improving.
“In the race, I did show an improvement, so I was happy about the feeling of it as well.
A day to remember. 🙌
Thanks to all our @EntainGroup @TeamSportsAid athletes who attended today’s Parliamentary Reception in Westminster!
📸🎥✏️🔜… pic.twitter.com/aQ2W6FnZWI
— Pitching In (@PitchingIn_) March 27, 2023
“I just tried to treat it like any other race and not think too much about the occasion of it being an international race, but it was a great experience.”
Reid has already returned to training as he targets a potential appearance at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris later this year.
He will have to manage his preparation around his work as he continues his Police Now Graduate Leadership Programme.
“The last couple of weeks has been quite hectic with work,” Reid said. “I had two shifts in relation to the coronation.
“One was a night shift the day before the coronation, I was about 150 metres away from the Queen Victoria memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.
“I was stewarding there from around 10pm to 7am in the morning. And then I had a shift the same day and was supposed to have a rest day the day after that.
“I had another shift the day before I was leaving for Italy and across April I have also been stewarding at things like the London Marathon.
“My training has been decent because it’s tough to fit in but where I could I’m proud to have still been able to turn up and train and still do what I have to do.”
Funding from the Trident Community Foundation are making a difference in @SportingKhalsa‘s community
The Lions have set up a new dementia awareness campaign to help those in the local area 👇https://t.co/pnUJ3Fr9fv
— Pitching In (@PitchingIn_) March 30, 2023
Reid’s ability to juggle his various responsibilities is aided by his status as one of 50 athletes supported by a partnership between SportsAid and Pitching In, a multimillion-pound grassroots sport programme established by Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral.
He added: “SportsAid have helped massively because there’s a lot of training and a lot of equipment that can be useful in developing me as an athlete.
“It has helped in getting to that point of competing without concentrating solely on ‘How am I going to finance this? How am I going to do this?’
“It’s helped me a lot in terms of planning and getting to competitions and continuing in sport, I am thankful for that.”
Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more
