Few people have experienced the unrivalled exhilaration of competing in Formula One. No one but Alessandro 'Alex' Zanardi has managed to do both that and claim gold medals at an Olympic or Paralympic Games.
Hailing from Bologna, the Italian’s F1 career began in 1991 after impressing in the International Formula 3000 with a second-place finish in the championship. Zanardi signed for Jordan with three races left in the season, before going on to race for Minardi and Lotus.
He scored a single championship point in F1 thanks to a sixth-place finish in the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix. Leaving the sport in 1994, he had a successful run in CART, where he won back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998. That was enough to impress Williams F1 boss Frank Williams, who he raced under during the 1999 F1 season, while he remained unsigned throughout 2000.
Zanardi enjoyed little success upon his return to CART the following year. During the 2001 American Memorial race, he was involved in a devastating crash which caused him to lose both legs.
The Italian driver lost control of his car and spun onto the track, into the path of the other drivers. Zanardi’s vehicle was hit by Alex Tagliani, severing the nose of the car. Additional parts of his legs had to be amputated in a three-hour surgery to clean and close the wounds.
A Comeback Like No Other
Afterward, he designed and customised two prosthetic limbs. He made an inspirational comeback to motorsport just two years later in the Italian round of the European Touring Car Championship by using hand-operated brake and accelerator controls.
Finding New Horizons
Always expanding his horizons, Zanardi developed a passion for handcycling - a form of Para-cycling - in 2007. In September 2011, Zanardi won his first senior international handcycling medal, the silver medal in the H4 category time trial at the UCI World Road Para-Cycling Championships.
He qualified to represent his country at the London 2012 Games. There, he won gold medals in the individual men’s road time trial H4 and the individual H4 road race, followed by a silver medal in the mixed H1-4 team relay.
Paralympic Glory
Victory in 2012 came rather fittingly at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, where he had raced several times previously in his motorsport career. As a result of his heroic displays, Zanardi was voted the best male athlete of the 2012 Paralympics.
A Second Devastating Accident
However, Zanardi suffered misfortune once again in June 2020 after colliding with a truck during a handbike race. The now 57-year-old suffered severe head injuries after he lost control of his handbike down a hill and veered into an oncoming truck.
He was placed in a medically induced coma, undergoing facial reconstruction surgeries and only regaining his sight and hearing in December 2020. Zanardi returned home in December 2021 - 18 months after the incident - only to be hospitalised again in July 2022 when solar panels on his home caused a fire to break out. He was released from hospital 76 days later.
A Champion's Spirit
Alex Zanardi's story is one of resilience, determination, and an unwavering spirit. His journey from Formula One driver to Paralympic champion is a testament to the power of the human will to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Zanardi’s life is an inspiration to us all, proving that with grit and determination, anything is possible.
