Paula Margaret Tesoriero, MNZM

New Zealand Order of Merit

The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order established in 1996 "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits."The order includes five...

 (born 29 August 1975 in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

) is a New Zealand paralympics racing cyclist, most notable for her performance at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

2008 Summer Paralympics

The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....

; her world record

World record

A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...

-breaking time in the Women's 500m Time Trial

Time trial

In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial  can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...

 secured New Zealand's first gold medal at that games

New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

New Zealand sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The country was represented by thirty athletes competing in 7 sports: athletics, boccia, cycling, power-lifting, shooting, swimming and wheelchair rugby.-Medalists:...

, and she later went on to win bronze in both the Individual pursuit

Individual pursuit

The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track.The event is held over 4 km for men and 3 km for women. The two riders start at the same time and set off to complete the race distance in the...

, and the Women's individual road time trial. She broke the world record earlier in the year and also won two silver medals at the 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships

2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships

The 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place in Bordeaux, France from April 13 to April 16, 2006.-Medals table:-Medal summary:-External links:**...

. Tesoriero suffers from disabilities in both legs, with no ankle on her right leg and she wears a carbon

Carbon

Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...

 limb on her left leg and is therefore classified as a LC3 athlete. Tesoriero also competes in the 25 km Road Race.

Footnotes