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Alex Zanardi, CART Champion and Paralympic Icon, Dies at 59

Global tributes highlight a legacy of courage from pit lane to Paralympic podiums.

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Italian Race car driver Alex Zanardi crosses the finish line in the Handcycle Division during the 2007 ING New York City Marathon in New York November 4, 2007. REUTERS/Chip East/File Photo
Italian BMW 320i racing car driver Alex Zanardi sits in his car before the start of a LG Super Racing car event at the Monza race track October 19, 2003. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito GS/File Photo

Overview

  • Zanardi, 59, died Friday, his family said, adding he passed peacefully with loved ones and asking for privacy.
  • No cause of death was disclosed, and the family said details on funeral arrangements will follow.
  • The Bologna-born driver raced in Formula 1 and won back-to-back CART titles in 1997 and 1998 with Chip Ganassi Racing.
  • After losing both legs in a 2001 CART crash at Germany’s Lausitzring, he returned to sport as a handcyclist and won four Paralympic golds and two silvers in 2012 and 2016.
  • He suffered severe head injuries in a 2020 handbike collision in Tuscany, and this weekend the FIA, F1 leaders, Italy’s prime minister, and sports bodies marked his passing with public tributes and moments of silence, including at the Miami Grand Prix.