Five Star Para Cycling Team Announced for Paris 2024

It was announced today that a five-strong Para-cycling team, featuring an exciting mix of youth and experience, will form part of the New Zealand Paralympic team that will compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Paralympic athlete #221 Rory Mead, Paralympic athlete #222 Nicole Murray and Paralympic athlete #225 Anna Taylor are all returning for a second Paralympic Games, following their debuts at Tokyo 2020. The team also includes Paralympic cycling world champion Devon Briggs and Ben Westenberg, both competing at the Paralympic Games for the first time.

Briggs, 20, who lives in Cambridge, has had a fantastic year after winning all-medals at the 2024 Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Rio in March. In Brazil, Briggs, who has bilateral talipes (club feet), claimed a stunning gold medal with a world record time in the Men’s C3 1km Time Trial and also won silver in the C3 Omnium and C3 Individual Pursuit in an outstanding all-round performance.

The psychology student has been selected for the 1 km time trial for men C1-2-3 and the individual pursuit for men C3. He will also compete on the road in the time trial for men C3 and the road race for men C1-2-3.

Briggs said: “When I started cycling I never thought I would ever make it to the Paralympics. It’s more than I could have ever imagined.

“I hope that a lot of children with disabilities look up to what I have achieved and are inspired. I just hope to continue to express myself in a sport that I love. It would be great if I could win a medal in Paris with my mother and father watching.”

Nicole Murray is competing at the Paralympic Games for the second time, driven by the belief that she has been a consistent medal winner on the world stage since competing at Tokyo 2020.

The 31-year-old from Otorohanga, who has had a left hand amputation, finished fourth in the C5 individual pursuit in Tokyo and enjoyed a memorable World Championships in Glasgow in 2023, where he won gold, silver and bronze medals on the track, culminating in a top spot on the podium in the C5 omnium.

Such was her dominance in the C5 class that Murray was named Best Female Summer Athlete at the 2023 global PARA SPORT Awards.

Murray, who has been selected for the women’s C5 individual pursuit and women’s C4-5 500m time trial, as well as the women’s C5 time trial and women’s C4-5 road race at Paris 2024, said: “I’m incredibly proud to have been selected for my second Paralympic Games and I can’t wait to wear the Fern again.

“I’m looking forward to the road race in Paris because it’s one of the most interesting and varied courses I’ve ever ridden.

“I’ve been working hard over the last few years and I’m really looking forward to seeing what my teammates and I can achieve.”

Anna Taylor, a former rower, also joins her on the NZ Paralympic team and is set to make her second Paralympic appearance. The 32-year-old athlete from Cambridge, who has caudia equina syndrome (a spinal cord injury), has also impressed on the world stage, winning silver in the Women’s C4 Time Trial and bronze in the Women’s C4 Omnium at the 2024 Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Rio.

Taylor will compete in the C4 individual pursuit and the women’s C4 road time trial at Paris 2024. Handcyclist Rory Mead returns for his second Paralympic Games hoping to improve on his fifth place in the men’s H2 time trial and men’s H1-2 road race at Tokyo 2020.

The 37-year-old athlete from Porirua, who lives in the US, suffered a spinal cord injury in a motocross accident ten years ago. He is determined to impress in both disciplines when he competes in the men’s H2 time trial and men’s H1-2 road race in Paris in 2024.

The team is completed by Tauranga-raised Ben Westenberg who makes his Paralympic debut in the Men’s C4 Individual Pursuit and C4-5 1km Time Trial. The 19-year-old with Arthrogryposis achieved four top 10 finishes at the 2024 Para-Cycling Track World Championships, highlighted by a fifth place in the C4 Omnium and sixth in the C4 Individual Pursuit.

Greg Warnecke, CEO of Paralympic New Zealand, said: “Our para-cycling team has achieved outstanding results at the Paralympic Games in the past and we are very excited to announce the five athletes we have selected for Paris 2024.

“We are once again optimistic that the team will challenge for podium places and I am sure the New Zealand public is looking forward to seeing them on both the track and the road.”

The selection of the five Paralympic athletes brings the total number of athletes selected to date for the New Zealand Paralympic Team to 23.

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