The remarkable life of Zanardi, a 21st century hero who inspired millions

Alex Zanardi, who has died aged 59, was a 21st century hero. A man who inspired millions through his unquenchable spirit in the face of unbelievable adversity. An icon of two different sports.

The Italian died on Friday, just under six years after suffering serious head injuries in a road accident while racing his handbike, a device with which he became a four-time Paralympic gold medallist and 12-time world champion.

That was a second chapter of sporting achievement, after a previous one in which he had considerable success as a racing driver, competing for several seasons in Formula 1, and becoming a two-time champion in American Indycar racing.

The dividing line between those two parts of his life was a horrific accident at Germany's Lausitzring, in which Zanardi lost both his legs, most of his blood, and was saved from death only by rapid and decisive medical intervention.

Zanardi was a man who experienced so much pain in his life, but whose outlook was always positive, no matter the difficulty he faced.

He was also a charming, funny, warm, charismatic, genuine and eloquent man, universally popular. His ability to express the means by which he had overcome his personal challenges brought those struggles alive, put them in perspective, and gave hope to so many around the world.
Ex-F1 driver and Paralympic champion Zanardi dies

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What pulled Zanardi through, and enabled him to go on to achieve at the elite sporting level again, was his remarkable force of will.

"I am very lucky," Zanardi once said. "There is a strong connection between what happened before and after, in the sense that I was able to carry on into this new life of mine. Against a lot.

"I don't feel like I am living a second life. It is the same one. I have been able to embrace and encounter things that I would never have met if what happened didn't.

"This is not necessarily a bad thing, actually. I am very comfortable in this new life of mine where I have been able to do a lot of new things, 99% of which are probably directly due to my condition. So after what happened I have been able to turn it into an opportunity."

He had three fragmented part-seasons from 1991-93 with the Jordan, Minardi and Lotus teams, showing intermittent promise, before suffering severe concussion in a huge accident at Spa's Eau Rouge corner in 1993.

By the time he returned the following year, Lotus were in severe financial trouble, and when they collapsed at the end of 1994, his F1 career seemed to be over.

Securing a seat for 1996 with the Ganassi team in the US-based Cart Championship series, the highest profile of two Indycar series at the time, turned his career around.

Zanardi won two races in his first year, before emerging as the dominant force in the series, and securing two consecutive titles in 1997 and 1998

His stellar performances in the States attracted renewed attention from F1, but a return with the Williams team in 1999 did not work out.

Zanardi later admitted he probably did not give it the dedication it needed, and Williams were in something of a decline. The relationship never seemed to gel, Zanardi rarely showed the performance the team expected of him, and Williams released him at the end of the year.