Canada's Nate Riech roars to Paralympic silver medal in men's 1,500m

Canada's Nate Riech has won his second consecutive Paralympic medal.

The Victoria native took silver in the men's T38 1,500 metres on Saturday at the Stade de France in Paris, following up the title he won three years ago at the Tokyo Games.

Riech crossed the finish line in four minutes 13.12 seconds, slightly behind gold medallist Amen Allah Tissaoui of Tunisia at 4:12.91. Australian Reece Langdon earned bronze at 4:13.13.

"It sucks. But those guys were great in Tokyo when I won, and I have nothing but respect for [Tissaoui]. He was the best guy on the day, no doubt about it. I am just proud," Riech said.

WATCH | Riech races to silver:

The eight-man field started slowly through two laps as competitors appeared to attempt biding time before a finishing kick.

Steadily, Riech, Tissaoui, Langdon and Australia's Angus Hincksman separated themselves from the rest of the pack, and with 200 metres to go the race was finally on.

Riech was forced somewhat to the outside, where he was able to get past both Australians. But Tissaoui had the most energy left in the tank, sprinting to the finish line with time to celebrate, while Riech edged Langdon in a photo finish for silver.

"It was a hell of a race. I had three plans — slow, medium and fast. I knew if it was slow with about 700 [metres] to go, I would take it and bait those guys," he said. "My plan worked great. I just thought I was going to have more wheels at the end."

WATCH | Riech chats about silver-medal race:

The 29-year-old Canadian holds the world record in the event at 3:47.89 from May 2021 and set the Paralympic record later that year at 3:58.92.

But the 1,500 is a tactical race, and on Saturday the rest of the field prevented Riech from setting his typically