Alex Zanardi, CART champion and Paralympic gold medalist, dies at 59

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The auto racing world is mourning the lack of Alex Zanardi. The Italian System 1 driver, who later grew to become a Paralympic champion after two life-altering accidents, has died, his household introduced Saturday. He was 59.

The household confirmed that family members have been with Zanardi when he died. "Alex died peacefully, surrounded by the love of these closest to him," the household mentioned in a press release. A reason behind loss of life was not offered.

Zanardi's household additionally mentioned that it "Thanks everybody who's sharing their assist proper now and asks for respect throughout this time of mourning."

Zanardi suffered serious injuries in a 2020 handbike accident, colliding with an oncoming truck throughout a relay occasion in Italy. He sustained facial and cranial trauma and was positioned in a medically induced coma.

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Alessandro Zanardi of Italy celebrates holding his gold medal after successful the lads's street cycle particular person time trial H4 class on the 2012 Paralympics at Manufacturers Hatch motor racing circuit close to London on Sept. 5, 2012. (Alastair Grant/AP)

Almost 20 years earlier, Zanardi misplaced each of his legs in an auto racing crash.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid tribute to Zanardi in a submit on X, saying partly, "Italy loses a terrific champion and a rare man, able to turning each problem of life right into a lesson in braveness, power, and dignity. Alex Zanardi knew bounce again each time, dealing with even the hardest challenges with willpower, readability, and a power of spirit that was actually distinctive."

Zanardi gained back-to-back championships in CART in 1997 and 1998 within the U.S. He then briefly returned to F1.

He in the end got here again stateside, 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 on the time of the assaults and couldn't return to the U.S.

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Zanardi was left in a three-day coma following the 2001 crash.

Throughout his restoration, Zanardi designed his personal prosthetics and discovered to stroll once more. He then turned his consideration handy biking and developed into one of many sport's most achieved athletes on the earth.

He gained 4 gold medals and two silvers on the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics , competed within the New York Metropolis Marathon and set an Ironman file.

Driver Alex Zanardi (24) of BMW Workforce RLL BMW M8 GTE, appears on earlier than the Rolex 24 at Daytona at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in Daytona Seaside, Florida, on Jan. 26, 2019. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire)

Zanardi used specifically tailored vehicles with hand controls for fuel and braking to take up racing once more after the 2001 accident.

Stefano Domenicali, the president and CEO of F1, mentioned he was "deeply saddened by the passing of my pricey buddy," calling Zanardi "actually an inspirational individual, as a human and as an athlete."

"He confronted challenges that might have stopped anybody, but he continued to look ahead, all the time with a smile and a cussed willpower that impressed us all," Domenicali added. "Whereas his loss is profoundly felt, his legacy stays robust."

Alex Zanardi of Italy crosses the end line on the IRONMAN 70.3 Emilia Romagna in Cervia, Italy, on Sept. 22, 2019. (Bryn Lennon/Getty Photographs for IRONMAN)

After Zanardi’s 2020 crash, Pope Francis praised him as a logo of power in adversity and despatched a handwritten letter providing encouragement and prayers.

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Earlier than Saturday’s F1 dash race in Miami Gardens, Florida, a second of silence honored Zanardi. The Italian Olympic Committee additionally referred to as for a minute of silence at sporting occasions throughout Italy.