Alex Zanardi dies at 59, his family announced Saturday, ending the life of the Italian former Formula One driver who became a four-time Paralympic cycling champion.
Zanardi died Friday evening “suddenly” but peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement issued through Obiettivo3, the charity he founded.
The Bologna-born athlete raced in Formula One for Jordan, Minardi, Lotus and Williams during the 1990s before winning the CART championship in the United States in 1997 and 1998.
His racing career changed in 2001 after a high-speed crash at Lausitzring in Germany, where another car struck his at more than 300 km/h, and doctors amputated both of his legs.
Zanardi later became one of Paralympic sport’s most prominent athletes, winning two handbike gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics and two more at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
He suffered serious head injuries in June 2020 when his handbike collided with a truck during a race in Tuscany, Italy, and returned home 18 months later after treatment and rehabilitation.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Zanardi “a great champion and an extraordinary man,” saying he turned trials into lessons in courage, strength and dignity.
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Cordiano Dagnoni, president of the Italian Cycling Federation, said Zanardi transformed Italy’s culture around disability. He said races in Italy this weekend would observe a minute’s silence in his honour. His wife, Daniela, and son, Niccolò, survive him.
