Nate
Riech

Nate Riech won gold in the T38 1500m at his first Paralympic Games in Tokyo and followed up that success by winning gold again at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris.

In 2018, Riech moved from Phoenix to Victoria to train at the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific which has provided him with structure in his training program. That same year, he burst onto the international scene with world record performances in the 800m and 1500m at the Berlin Grand Prix.

The 2019 season was his best yet, as he won the gold medal in the men’s T38 1500m at both the IPC World Championships and the Parapan American Games in meet record time.

At age 10, a freak accident changed Riech’s world. He was playing golf with some friends and a player from another group whacked a ball from 150 yards away which accidentally hit Reich in the back of his head. He was diagnosed with a brain injury which affected the right side of his body.

He started running in grade eight and participated in able-bodied competitions throughout university. He finished all conferences in the indoor mile his senior year against able-bodied competitors.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS 

2020 Paralympic Games champion… 2019, 2023 world champion … 2019 Parapan Am Games champion… Named Athletic Canada’s Ambulatory Athlete of the Year for 2018 and 2019…

PERSONAL 

His father Todd Riech competed at the 1996 Olympics in javelin for the USA…. His mother Ardin Tucker was a pole vaulter for Canada… His grandfather Jim Harrison played eight years in the NHL with the Maple Leafs, Blackhawks and Bruins.

NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS 

• 2023 World Championships 1500m 1st
• 2021 Paralympic Games 1500m 1st
• 2019 IPC World Championships 1500m 1st
• 2019 Parapan American Games 1500m 1st
• 2019 Portland Twilight Meet 1500m 1st
• 2018 Berlin Grand Prix 1500m 1st
• 2018 Berlin Grand Prix 800m 1st