.jpg) Thompson in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Laura Gail Thompson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1987-06-04)4 June 1987 (age 37) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Cycling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Laura Gail ThompsonONZM (for a time with a married nameFairweather; born 4 June 1987) is a New Zealand cyclist and former basketballer. She represented New Zealand at the2012 Summer Paralympics as thetandem sighted pilot forPhillipa Gray, winning three medals: one gold, one silver and one bronze.[1][2][3][4] At the2016 Summer Paralympics, she was the sighted pilot forEmma Foy, winning one silver and one bronze medal.[5][6]
From 2014 to 2016 she won a total of eight medals (including three gold) at theUCI Para-cycling Track andRoad Championships, with partner Emma Foy.[7][8]
Thompson played basketball in her youth, representing New Zealand at junior level before being selected forthe national team at age 18. However, she developed hip problems requiring surgery to correct and forcing her to retire from basketball. Thompson picked up cycling through rehabilitation, later becoming a member of the national development team before switching to para-cycling piloting in 2009.[9]
In the2013 New Year Honours, Fairweather was appointed aMember of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to cycling.[10][11] In the2022 New Year Honours, Thompson was promoted to Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Paralympic cycling.[12]
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  | This article about a Paralympic medalist of New Zealand is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
