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Alex Zanardi, Champion Racer and Paralympian, Dies at 59

Tributes highlight a rare athlete who turned two devastating crashes into elite success across motor racing plus Paralympic handcycling.

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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
Italian BMW 320i racing car driver Alex Zanardi gives a thumbs up before the start of an LG Super Racing car event at the Monza race track October 19, 2003. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito GS/File Photo

Overview

  • His family said Saturday he died peacefully on Friday night at age 59 and gave no cause of death.
  • Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised his courage as the cycling federation planned a minute’s silence at races and the family asked for privacy with funeral details to follow.
  • Zanardi won back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998 in CART, the top U.S. open-wheel series, after earlier Formula One stints with Jordan, Minardi, Lotus, and Williams.
  • A 2001 crash during a CART race at Germany’s Lausitzring led to the amputation of both legs, after which he became an elite handcyclist with four Paralympic golds and two silvers in 2012 and 2016.
  • He sustained severe head and facial injuries in a 2020 handbike collision with a truck in Tuscany and spent years in treatment, which kept him largely out of public view.