Alex Zanardi has repeated his 2012 Paralympic gold medal victory in the hand-cycling time trial today, just before the fifteenth anniversary of the horrific CART series racing crash that amputated both of his legs.
On September 15th, 2001, Zanardi was involved in a horrific crash during the American Memorial CART Championship series race, losing both of his legs when another racecar tore off the front of his car.
But he hasn’t let that accident define him. Since his accident, Zanardi has raced in touring car championships and Formula 1, before turning to hand-cycling for his racing thrills. He’s won the hand-cycling class of the 2011 New York City Marathon, and later won two Paralympic gold medals in 2012, in the hand-cycling time trial and road races.
Today he just took gold again in the 2016 Paralympic time-trial race, and will attempt to repeat gold victory in the road race Thursday.
It’s impossible to determine one claim to fame for Zanardi—he’s even credited as the origin of the victory-donuts almost every racer aspires to today—and he shows no signs of slowing down on the verge of turning 50.
He even has an original-NSX special edition with his name on it. The man just keeps on winning.
Via NBC Sports