Rome
Alex Zanardi, the Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist whose profession was marked by two life-altering accidents, has died. He was 59.
Zanardi’s household introduced his dying on Saturday, saying that he handed away on Friday evening.
“Alex died peacefully, surrounded by the affection of those closest to him,” the household mentioned in an announcement with out offering a reason for dying.
In 2020, Zanardi was seriously injured in a handbike accident after crashing into an oncoming truck throughout a relay occasion in Tuscany. Zanardi suffered critical facial and cranial trauma within the crash and was put in a medically induced coma.
Nearly 20 years earlier, Zanardi misplaced each of his legs in an auto racing crash.
“Italy loses a great champion and an extraordinary man, capable of turning every challenge of life into a lesson in courage, strength, and dignity,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni (*59*) on X.
“Alex Zanardi knew how to bounce back every time, facing even the toughest challenges with determination, clarity, and a strength of spirit that was truly exceptional,” Meloni added. “With his sporting achievements, with his example, and with his humanity, he gave all of us much more than a victory: he gave hope, pride, and the strength to never give up. On behalf of myself and the government, I extend my heartfelt thoughts and the sincerest closeness to his family and to all those who loved him. Thank you for everything, Alex.”
Zanardi won two championships in CART — 1997 and 1998 — within the United States earlier than a short return to Formula One. He returned to America and was racing in Germany in a CART occasion in 2001 when each of his legs have been severed in a horrific accident the weekend after the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults. CART raced solely as a result of the sequence was already in Germany at the time of the assaults and couldn’t return to the U.S.
During his restoration, Zanardi designed his personal prosthetics — he joked that he made himself taller — and discovered to stroll once more. He then turned his consideration at hand biking and developed into some of the completed athletes on the planet. He won 4 gold medals and two silvers at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics, competed within the New York City Marathon and set an Ironman report.
When he won a Paralympic race in 2012 at Britain’s Brands Hatch circuit the place he had competed as a younger driver, Zanardi celebrated the full-circle second by holding his bike aloft one-handed as he sat on the observe.
His spirit, will, and willpower gave the beloved Italian a larger-than-life persona. When he returned to the U.S. in 2019 to compete for BMW at the Rolex 24 of Daytona with out his prosthetics, he was probably the most revered driver in a subject that included F1 champion Fernando Alonso.
Drivers from all over the world sought out Zanardi for images and have been transfixed as he advised elaborate tales of his adventures within the almost 20 years since many had seen him.
Zanardi used specifically tailored automobiles with hand controls for gasoline and brake to take up racing once more after the 2001 accident — and properly sufficient to win races in numerous sequence.
Stefano Domenicali, the president and CEO of F1, said he was “deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend,” calling Zanardi “truly an inspirational person, as a human and as an athlete.”
“He faced challenges that would have stopped anyone, yet he continued to look forward, always with a smile and a stubborn determination that inspired us all,” Domenicali added. “While his loss is profoundly felt, his legacy remains strong.”
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said on X that Zanardi’s racing profession and “journey from life-changing accident to Paralympics gold medalist made him one of sport’s most admired competitors and an enduring symbol of courage and determination.”
Noted for his infectious smile and fanciful storytelling, Zanardi was praised by Pope Francis after his 2020 crash for instance of power amid adversity. Francis penned a handwritten letter of encouragement assuring Zanardi and his household of his prayers.
Zanardi’s household added that it “thanks everyone who is sharing their support right now and asks for respect during this time of mourning.”
Funeral particulars have been nonetheless to be introduced, the household mentioned.
The Italian Olympic Committee referred to as for a minute of silence to be noticed at all sports activities occasions in Italy over the weekend to honor Zanardi.
Zanardi, who was born in Bologna, is survived by his spouse, Daniela, and son, Niccolò.