Four-time Paralympic champion in Para cycling, Alex Zanardi, has passed away, the Italian Paralympic Committee announced in a social media post on Saturday (2 May).
A Formula 1 driver from 1991 to 1999, Zanardi competed in 44 Grand Prix races with four different teams (Jordan, Minardi, Lotus, and Williams) before moving on to other categories. It was during a CART championship race in 2001 at the Lausitzring in Germany that he was involved in the accident that resulted in the amputation of his legs.
Zanardi returned to car racing less then two years later and also launched his Para cycling career. His first major victory in Para cycling came at the New York Marathon in 2011.
He later competed at two Paralympic Games, London 2012 and Rio 2016, winning six medals overall.
At London 2012, Zanardi won the time trial and H4 road race, and picked up a silver in the relay. Following his success, he was selected to be the Italian flagbearer at the Closing Ceremony. At Rio 2016, he was golden in the H5 time trial and relay, and got a silver in the road race.
In addition to his Paralympic medals, Zanardi also won 12 gold medals at the world championships.
He suffered another serious accident, this time on his handbike, on June 19, 2020. The four-time Paralympic champion lost control of his bike during a charity relay in Tuscany and collided with a truck. After more than a year of treatment, he returned home, and his condition was kept strictly confidential until the news of his passing.
“Alex was, first, a great sports champion, also a star in Formula 1, and then a Paralympic athlete capable of rewriting history. But above all, he was the one who truly launched the Paralympic Movement, making a decisive contribution to the spread of its culture, in Italy and around the world,” Marco Giunio De Sanctis, president of the Italian Paralympic Committee, said in a statement.
“He was a great communicator, a man capable of connecting with everyone through his simplicity and strength. He could have held any role, because he was an extraordinary champion in sport and in life. His immediacy, his authenticity, and his humanity will remain an indelible legacy.”
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/alex-zanardi-italy-paralympic-games-para-cycling-passes-away
