Paula Margaret Tesoriero (born 29 August 1975 in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

) is a former New Zealand

paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

and senior public servant.

Early life

Tesoriero was born with

amniotic band syndrome Constriction ring syndrome (CRS) is a congenital disorder with unknown cause. Because of the unknown cause there are many different, and sometimes incorrect names. It is a malformation due to intrauterine bands or rings that give deep grooves in, ...

, which caused mobility issues. She got her first bicycle when she was five and used it as a way to "keep up with everyone." Her left leg was amputated below the knee when she was thirteen. Tesoriero uses an artificial left leg and is missing an ankle on her right leg. When she competes, she uses a

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...

limb on her left leg. Tesoriero graduated from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in 1998, a Bachelor of Laws in 2000 and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Management in 2009.

Cycling career

Tesoriero is classified as a LC3 athlete. She competed for New Zealand in the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

. Her

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

-breaking time in the women's 500m time trial secured New Zealand's first gold medal at that games, and she later went on to win bronze in both the

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. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete 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 The 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place in Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne ...

. Tesoriero also competed in the bicycle road race. Tesoriero was made a Member of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

, for her services to cycling. She has been a member of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand since 2015 and has also been on the boards of the New Zealand Artificial Limb Service, the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation and Paralympics NZ. She was

chef de mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, perman ...

for New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

Public service career

Tesoriero worked as a senior legal adviser and manager at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

from 2002 to 2016, finishing as General Manager, High Courts. She was General Manager, System and Partnerships at

Statistics New Zealand Statistics New Zealand ( mi, Tatauranga Aotearoa), branded as Stats NZ, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the collection of statistics related to the economy, population and society of New Zealand. To this end, Stats ...

from 2016 to 2017. She was appointed Disability Rights Commissioner at the

New Zealand Human Rights Commission The Human Rights Commission (Māori: ''Te Kāhui Tika Tangata'') is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for New Zealand. It operates as an independent Crown entity, and is independent from direction by the Cabinet. Legislation and func ...

in June 2017. After completing her first three-year term, she was reappointed for a further five years. During her appointment, she was Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner from 2018 to 2019. As Disability Rights Commissioner, Tesoriero initiated an inquiry into support of disabled people during the Omicron outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2022. She was announced as the first chief executive of

Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People is a government ministry within New Zealand's Ministry of Social Development. Its mission is to improve outcomes for disabled people in New Zealand, reform the wider disability system, and coordinate the Gove ...

on 30 August 2022 and is the first disabled person to lead a New Zealand public service department.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tesoriero, Paula 1975 births Living people New Zealand female cyclists Paralympic cyclists for New Zealand Paralympic gold medalists for New Zealand Paralympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Paralympic medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Sportspeople from Wellington City New Zealand public servants New Zealand women public servants 21st-century New Zealand women