The stakes were evident and plain to see. As Nate Riech lined up to try to break his men’s T38 1,500 metre world record at Alumni Stadium in Guelph, Ont., on Tuesday, the PA announcer introduced each of the athletes by name.
Then it was Riech’s turn.
“The Paralympic gold medallist and two-time world champion…”
Riech, the 29-year-old from Victoria, embraced all that pressure, even creating some of it himself. He wanted to simulate the feeling of racing in the Paralympic final.
On this day, he was jammed from the start. Riech lingered toward the back of the pack of able-bodied racers as the announcer continued to let the crowd know how his time was tracking.
After 400 metres, the announced pace was 60 seconds. After 800, it was 61.
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After 1,500, Riech was never quite able to move to the front. He stopped the clock at three minutes 57.89 seconds, exactly 10 seconds shy of the world record he set in 2021.
“The time was crap. But honestly, it’s not a copout. I could give you every excuse in the book, but every excuse I could refute. … So I just didn’t have it,” Riech said.
Heather Hennigar, Athletics Canada’s West Hub lead and Riech’s personal coach, said she was pleased with the race despite the time.
“I thought he fought tough today, and I think things started to feel pretty hard at one point and sometimes the wheels can come off with him, and they didn’t,” Hennigar said.
Riech had circled the Guelph meet on the calendar to attack the record once again as one of his biggest preparation competitions for Paris, and he made his world-record intentions well-known.
But he also said he clocked 4:10 two weeks ago.
“It’s a mixed bag I’d say. On one hand I’m happy I got under 4, I’m happy I’m making my way back down there, but I don’t like to say stuff and not back it up. That sucks. That doesn’t feel good,” he said.
In each of Riech’s three major victories, he battled nerves prior to stepping onto the start line.
Ahead of Paris, he won’t be able to test himself against his top competition — a trio of Australians — on the track.
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And so he made himself feel some nerves by publicizing his chase, inviting media and sponsors and even producing his own documentary.
In April, though, he experienced a setback when tightness in his right leg — the side of his body affected by his coordination impairment – forced him to miss about three weeks of training on the track.
The tightness caused Riech to fall behind on his fitness ahead of the Guelph race. Hennigar even suggested putting off the world-record chase for another month, but Riech resisted, with the idea that the Paralympic final won’t get moved if he’s not feeling his best either.
But he said he still trusts in his ability to step up when the most is on the line.
“Thank god I don’t race until Sept. 7, the big dance. I think that’s one thing I’m really good at is getting ready when it really matters,” Riech said.
Hennigar added that she didn’t alter the training plan for Guelph so drastically that it would change preparations for Paris.
“The agreed upon goal is he wants to be Paralympic champion, so nothing detracts from that,” Hennigar said. “Now we did ratchet things up in the last few days, jamming some things in there, but what I would say is we haven’t done anything to compromise what that end goal is.”
‘When it matters, I’ll dominate’
Riech and Hennigar agreed that he executed the race well, but his fitness just wasn’t quite up to snuff.
Riech’s next race is June 13 in Hamilton, Ont., for 100 and 1,500-metre night, then he heads to Victoria for a training block ahead of national championships in late June in Montreal.
When Riech announced his intentions for Guelph a few months ago, the goal was a world record.
Instead, he’s leaving with a benchmark in the leadup to Paris and further motivation.
“Deep down, I kinda like it a little bit. It’s kinda like ‘Alright, doubt me. I guarantee when it matters, I’ll dominate.'”
