NNN’s Last 10: Through song and sports, local talent takes the world stage

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She returned to American Idol with a guest appearance during the 2024 season.

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NNN's Last 10: Through song and sports, local talent takes the world stage

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Spencer-Smith earned three Juno nominations in 2024, including for artist of the year, adding to her two nominations a year prior.

She sang ‘O Canada’ at the MLB All-Star Game in 2025, and will perform at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Jan. 22 with Hilary Duff, according to her website.

Cameron Whitcomb accepts the Fans’ Choice award at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards in Kelowna, B.C., on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (Image Credit: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Nanaimo-born singer Cameron Whitcomb, then 19, finished in the top 20, on ‘American Idol’ in 2022, before continuing his career with the release of singles in both 2024 and 2025, and his first studio album, The Hard Way, in the fall of 2025.

Whitcomb won Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year and the Fans’ Choice award at the 2025 Canadian Country Music Association awards in Sept. 2025.

Now 23, Whitcomb picked up two Juno Awards for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Country Album of the Year during the 2026 award show.

Raymond Salgado hit the main stage of Canada’s Got Talent on Tuesday, May 9, performing a Michael Buble song to earn another standing ovation. (Image Credit: Canada’s Got Talent/CityTV)

Moving on to Canada’s Got Talent, Lantzville-born singer Raymond Salgado blew the judges away when he performed in April of 2023, easily making it to the semi-final and the final round of competition.

He credited the experience for keeping him on the path to achieving his music goals, and has appeared in a viral video this year, sang ‘O Canada’ at a Nanaimo NightOwls baseball game, and is expected to release his debut single next month.

From Nanaimo Minor Hockey to the NHL. Dylan Coghlan debuted with the Vegas Golden Knights with a pair of games against the visiting Los Angeles Kings in Feb, 2021. (Image Credit: Vegas Golden Knights)

At 19 years old, undrafted Nanaimo minor hockey product Dylan Coghlan signed a three-year entry-level agreement with the National Hockey League’s Vegas Golden Knights, making his NHL debut in 2021 and scoring his first three goals in the same game only a few weeks later.

Now 28, Coghlan recently defied the odds by inking a two years with Vegas after primarily playing in the American Hockey League for the last few years, getting the call to join the lineup against the Anaheim Ducks in the second round of the 2025/26 playoffs.

Coghlan currently has 115 games played in the NHL, with six goals and 16 assists.

Matthew Wood of Nanaimo represented Canada on the international stage over the 2023 Christmas holidays at the annual World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Image Credit: TSN)

Named the BCHL Rookie of the Year in 2022, Nanaimo-born right-winger Matthew Wood was drafted by the NHL’s Nashville Predators in 2023 in the first round at 15th overall.

He has represented Canada several times on the international stage, including at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden scoring two goals in five games.

Wood made his NHL debut during the tail-end of the 2024/25 season, and is coming off his first full NHL season.

Wood has played 77 games with the Preds, scoring 17 goals and picking up 14 assists.

Fresh off his historic gold medal win in the men’s hammer throw at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Ethan Katzberg, raised in Nanaimo, was soaking up every moment of his historic Olympic gold medal win. (Image Credit: Submitted/Ethan Katzberg)

But perhaps no Nanaimoite has made a bigger, recent, impact in the world of sports than Ethan Katzberg.

Katzberg showed interest in the hammer throw early on, starting his medal count as a teenager before quickly establishing himself as the best Canadian to ever try the sport.

Katzberg was also a silver medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and finished top at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, leading up to him being the clear choice to represent Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

It didn’t take long for Katzberg to make his mark, posting the top hammer throw result in the Olympic qualifying round on Aug. 2, outperforming everyone else by more than two metres.

Only a few days later, Katzberg outthrew his opponents again in the medal round with a distance of 84.12 metres on his first attempt, making him the youngest gold medalist in the event’s history, and the first Canadian to bring home the gold in hammer throw.

Following his gold medal win, Katzberg was named one of the flag bearers for the closing ceremony, was named The Canadian Press Male Athlete of the Year, and was honoured in Nanaimo with a welcome home celebration in September.

Katzberg continued to make headlines with a Canadian track and field championships win in the hammer throw in 2025, picked up his second consecutive World Athletics Championship title, and won the Canadian championships again in 2026, just to name a few of his recent accomplishments.

Now 24, Katzberg recently won the gold medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 27, setting a new Games record of 80.97 metres on his first attempt.

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