The Paralympic Games are filled with countless stories of courage and inspiration. One journey having relevance to an automotive website is that of former F1 driver Alex Zanardi. A total of 11 years have passed since Zanardi lost both of his legs in an horrific accident during a CART race at Lausitz in Germany.
Zanardi is now 45 and he reached the pinnacle of another sport overnight by winning the gold medal in the men’s Individual H4 Time Trial hand-cycling event. Adding extra sweetness to Zanardi’s victory is the fact the event was held at the former F1 racetrack Brands Hatch.
“I only collected a second place, a third-placed finish (at Brands Hatch) and to win I had to come back with a hand-cycle. It’s an amazing feeling,” Zanardi said after collecting his gold medal.
“I’m really, really happy for the result and I knew that this moment was going to bring a little bit of sadness as well.
“This is almost the last day of a great adventure and from Monday I will have to find something different, otherwise life will become a little boring.
“It’s at the top of the scale with many other great moments I’ve been lucky enough to live.”
On behalf of AUSmotive we say well done Alex Zanardi, well done!
[Source: London2012 | Pic: Getty Images]
UPDATE 8 September: Alex is just showing off now, winning a second gold medal!
5 replies on “Alex Zanardi wins Paralympic gold in London”
Fucking made my day. Brilliant!
Well done indeed.
He will not be remembered as the best racing driver all time, but he ranks up there as one of the most inspirational men the world has ever seen.
Inspiring! Good karma that he got to do it on a racetrack!
Given what he went through, well done AZ….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0N1gLOx3Os