RIECH Nate

Classification
T38 (IPC, 03 Mar 2021)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

Impairment Details
At age 10 he was struck on the back of the head with a golf ball while playing with some friends. The blow caused him to have a seizure, and he no longer has control of the right side of his body through paralysis. (nationalpost.com, 06 Jul 2018; csipacific.ca, 01 Jul 2019; Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

General
CHANGING COACH
He says his enjoyment of running dipped during university, where he feels he underachieved due to incorrect coaching. He says he has had a "spark" in his career since leaving university and working with different coaches. "Running had become more like a job while I was in college, and I viewed my collegiate track and field career to be unsuccessful. The coaches I had in college liked to run excess mileage which affected my central nervous system quite a bit and my movement quality became very poor. This eventually led to poor performance. After moving to Arizona [United States of America] and switching coaches, there was an instant spark in my passion for the sport of track and field and running." (nategraywolfriech.blog, 28 Jan 2019)

FURTHERING THE MOVEMENT
He says expanding the reach of Para sport in Canada is the main reason why he competes. He says it is more important to him than setting records. "Records were never something I set as a goal. My two goals that I set for myself when I began competing in Para sport was to become Paralympic champion and to further the Paralympic movement in Canada because sport has had such an impact on my life and I want to make sure kids, no matter their circumstances, have the same opportunities. I want to make myself as accessible as possible so I can share my experience with other kids." (csipacific.ca, 01 Jul 2019; Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

DUAL CITIZENSHIP
He has both US and Canadian citizenship. He says the reason he chose to represent Canada was because of all the time his Canadian mother spent with him in treatment sessions. "My mum grew up in Canada, and competed for Canada. Growing up, especially after my accident, my mum and I spent so much time together and she sacrificed so much for me at my young age. She had made sacrifices that probably weren't the best for her training for herself as an athlete." (nationalpost.com, 06 Jul 2018; torontoobserver.ca, 12 May 2020)

PODCAST
He hosts the 'Strides with GrayWolf' podcast, which focuses on high-performance sport. "My motivation for creating this podcast was to create a space for high performers in all fields to share their knowledge, in the hopes that their stories would resonate with listeners. Most of the conversations are about adversity, passion, and everything else that goes into high performance, as well as hearing the story behind the athlete." (strideswithgraywolf.wordpress.com, 26 Feb 2021)