Does Canada have a new multi-events star?

If you’ve never heard of Canadian decathlete Nate Paris, that might be about to change. Last weekend at the Doc Hale VT Meet in Blacksburg, Va., Paris set a new Canadian U23 record in the men’s heptathlon, scoring 5,858 points—the fifth-best mark in the NCAA this season.

The Nanaimo, B.C., native is in his second NCAA indoor track and field season with Virginia Tech University after transferring from the University of British Columbia (UBC) at the end of 2023. At UBC, Paris won an NAIA championship in the decathlon, scoring 7,232 points and finishing first in four of the ten events (100m, long jump, 400m and 110m hurdles). Later that year, he represented Canada at the U20 Pan American Games, winning bronze.

En route to Paris’s Canadian U23 record, he set personal bests in five of the seven heptathlon events: (60m – 6.88s, shot put – 12.70m, high jump – 2.06m, 60m hurdles – 8.19s, and the 1,000m – 2:46.32). This was the first time he has scored over 5,800 points in the event. The Canadian record for the heptathlon event is held by the 2020 Olympic champion, Damian Warner. His mark of 6,489 points was set en route to his win at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

✅️ 🇨🇦U23 Record
✅️ School Record

Nathaniel Paris 2nd position 5858 in the Men’s Heptathlon at the Doc Hale VT meet breaks the U23 record

60m – 6.88s PB
LJ – 7.50m
SP – 12.70m PB
HJ – 2.06m PB
60mH – 8.19 PB
PV – 4.47
1000m – 2:46.32 PB pic.twitter.com/8maeyJZtiS

— Spot Athlete (@SpotAthlete) February 8, 2025

Like Warner, Paris’s strong suit is in the sprint events and the jumps, with his softer marks coming in the shot put and throwing events.

Since space constraints make a full decathlon impractical indoors, male multi-event athletes compete in the heptathlon during the winter season in the NCAA. Events like the javelin and discus throw require massive outdoor venues, making an indoor decathlon unfeasible for most collegiate track and field programs.

Nate Paris: ACC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week 😮‍💨

» Hep – No. 1 in ACC
» Hep – No. 5 in the NCAA
» Hep – No. 16 in the world
» Hep – Virginia Tech program record
» HJ – No. 7 in the ACC
» Hep – PRs in 5 of 7 events#Hokies 👟 pic.twitter.com/XzmS3QxtvC

— Virginia Tech Track & Field (@HokiesTFXC) February 11, 2025

Before the 2024 season, Canadian decathletes had won medals at six consecutive major championships from 2018 to 2023. With reigning world champion Pierce LePage missing last year’s Olympics due to a back injury, and Warner withdrawing on the second day of the Olympic decathlon after a nightmare showing in the eighth event—the pole vault—the door is open for emerging talent, like Paris, as the athletics calendar inches toward L.A. 2028.