GOLD-medal winning paralympic athlete Margaret McEleny is a work of art.

The champion disabled swimmer has been featured in a painting commissioned by Britain's Paralympic Association to celebrate their achievements.

Margaret, who won gold and two bronze medals at the Sydney Paralympics in 2000, appears with five other paratheletes in the scene.

The painting shows the group at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Games, and is now on show at the National Gallery in London.

It took world-renowned portrait artist John Lessore two years to paint, and Margaret had to endure two hour-long sittings while he captured her likeness.

She said: `He wouldn't show me any of the sketches so I didn't have a clue what he was going to paint.

`But about a week before it was unveiled I got a picture of the painting sent to me - that was the first time I had seen it.` Margaret travelled to the unveiling and was very impressed with what John had created.

She said: `When you see it hanging on the wall it's absolutely massive. It looks terrific from a distance and you really get a sense of the occasion from it.

`It's a terrific honour to be featured because it's not just athletes who are competing now, it features all time great Paralympic athletes and there's a lot of them out there.` Margaret has won 12 medals at three different Paralympics, and is the current world-record holder for the 50 metre breaststroke.

The painting is the centrepiece of a six-month exhibition of artworks celebrating the Olympic and Paralympic Games.