ROME — Alex Zanardi, the Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist whose career was marked by two life-altering accidents, has died. He was 59.Zanardi’s family announced his death on Saturday, saying that he passed away on Friday night.“Alex died peacefully, surrounded by the affection of those closest to him,” the family said in a statement without providing a cause of death.In 2020, Zanardi was seriously injured in a handbike accident after crashing into an oncoming truck during a relay event in Tuscany. Zanardi suffered serious facial and cranial trauma in the crash and was put in a medically induced coma.Nearly 20 years earlier, Zanardi lost both of his legs in an auto racing crash.”Italy loses a great champion and an extraordinary man, capable of turning every challenge of life into a lesson in courage, strength, and dignity,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said on X.“Alex Zanardi knew how to bounce back every time, facing even the toughest challenges with determination, clarity, and a strength of spirit that was truly exceptional,” Meloni added. “With his sporting achievements, with his example, and with his humanity, he gave all of us much more than a victory: he gave hope, pride, and the strength to never give up. On behalf of myself and the government, I extend my heartfelt thoughts and the sincerest closeness to his family and to all those who loved him. Thank you for everything, Alex.”Zanardi won two championships in CART — 1997 and 1998 — in the United States before a brief move to Formula One. He returned to America and was racing in Germany in a CART event in 2001 when both of his legs were severed in a horrific accident the weekend after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. CART raced only because the series was already in Germany at the time of the attacks and could not return to the U.S.During his recovery, Zanardi designed his own prosthetics — he joked that he made himself taller — and learned to walk again. He then turned his attention to hand cycling and developed into one of the most accomplished athle …
