[2] The same year, coached by Jurgan Klinger,[2] he won bronze in the European under 23 Judo Championships in Moscow.

[4][2][3] Following his uncle in becoming a GB judo player,[2] in the following years, Reed placed or medalled in numerous international tournaments and European Cup events, including winning gold medals in the English, Welsh and Scottish opens, a gold in the Swedish open and a silver medal in the London European Cup (British Open)[3][2] In 2012, he won his second British national championship[4][3] but missed out on a place in the London 2012 Olympics to the more experienced Euan Burton.

Reed had previously lost a match to Burton in the final of the 2009 GB World Cup in Birmingham.

[9] In an interview, Reed stated that his elbow was "getting arthritic and bone fragments had moved into muscle areas".

"[9] This proved to be the case and Reed was left needing 300 points from two remaining tournaments after only managing a 7th place finish in the 2016 African Open.