A Formula 1 driver, a two-time CART series winner, an innovator, an athlete, a gold-medal winner at the Paralympics, but above all, a man with a true champion’s attitude: Alex Zanardi.
He started his career as a racing driver, but an on-track accident, because of which he lost both of his legs, changed his life forever. This didn’t stop him from being competitive, and most importantly, didn’t stop him to live. The Mo-Nunn team called Zanardi’s survival a “miracle” and well-wishers from all over the motorsports world hoped for a fast recovery for the former-champion. With or without legs, it didn’t matter to Zanardi, after 20 months of hard work and training, he was fit enough (both physically and mentally), and fast enough, to master a race-car at the track where he nearly lost his life. And concerning his life there is a lot to say: in 2003, Zanardi chose to do touring cars, signing then a contract with BMW; concerning his career in paracycling, in 2011, he not only had won the New York Marathon of Paralympics, but also finished second at the World Championships, and in 2012 won at the London Paralympics; In 2014, at the age of 47, Zanardi achieved something impossible, as he competed in the famous Ironman World Championship: it consists of 3.8 kms of swimming, 179 kms of cycling and finishes with a 42 kms marathon run. Zanardi, even though he was using wet suit for the swimming part, a hand-cycle for the cycling section and an Olympic-style wheelchair for the running part, finished, a more than impressive, 272nd in the overall-rankings, in a time of 9hrs, 47mins and 14secs.
There are few stories full of #motivation, #hardworkand #commitment like the one of Alex Zanardi, and we will wait to hear new adventures about him!