Alex Zanardi’s incredible career and mental strength
I remember when I read the horrible news on 19 June 2020: car racing and paracycling champion Alex Zanardi had crashed while competing in a paracycling road race in his native Italy. Severe, life-threatening head injuries.
I was shocked. As shocked as I was 18 years earlier, when Zanardi lost both his legs in a CART race accident at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. I remembered his incredible comeback from that – how he defied all the odds, and not only got back into car racing but went into a new sport, paracycling, and became an icon, a symbol for indomitable spirit, mental strength and positive outlook. And, as millions around the globe, I hoped and prayed that he would make a recovery again.
Early Career
Alessandro “Alex” Zanardi was born on 23 October 1966 in Bologna, Italy. He got into karting aged 13 and gradually progressed through the ranks; second place in the 1991 International Formula 3000 Series brought him his first Formula 1 assignment with the Jordan team in the same year. In the next three years he competed with Minardi and Lotus, respectively, scoring one championship point in the 1993 season which earned him 20th place in that year’s drivers’ championship.
With 25 Formula 1 Grands Prix under his belt, he went to the USA in 1995 and after several tests he secured a seat with the Ganassi Racing team for the following CART season. It was there, where Zanardi was able to show his true potential at a global stage for the first time – he finished third and as “Rookie of the Year” in his premiere CART season. And the following two years it went even better: Zanardi won the CART championships 1997 and 1998, and with that recommendation he re-entered Formula 1 for the 1999 season with the Williams team.
Unfortunately, Williams was at that time not anymore the top-notch address it was just a few years earlier, and also Zanardi failed to leave his mark. He thus returned to the USA to compete again in the CART series in 2001 with the Mo Nunn Racing team.
Accident in Lausitz
Zanardi was in a midfield position in the drivers’ ranking, when the CART circus stopped at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany on 15 September for the 15th race of the 2001 season. The Italian was leading the field when he came in for a pit stop in the final stages of the race, 13 laps before the checkered flag. Coming out of the pit lane, he spun, and a competitor hit his Reynard-Honda sideways at full speed. The monocoque was spilt apart, debris stretched over the track – a horrifying scene for the first responders on site.
Alex’ legs had been severed above the knee, blood was pouring out. It was a matter of life and death, he lost 75 per cent of his blood and in the helicopter to a Berlin hospital he had to be reanimated seven times. Given the grave injuries, there was noting the doctors could do for his legs – but they miraculously saved his life.
After three days in a medically induced coma and on artificial respiration, Zanardi woke up in his hospital bed. His wife Daniela by his side. “’I love you very much,’ she was saying. ‘I am going to stay close to you, no matter what. You’ve had a bad accident (…) But everything is OK now. In the accident you lost both legs, but I have been reading a lot, and some day you’ll walk again and do a lot of things that you loved to do.’ Zanardi listened quietly. ‘I love you,’ he said, ‘and the important thing is that I am alive. Don’t worry. We’ll find a way through this. Now let me go back to sleep. I’m tired.’” (Nack 2002)
Back on Track
Zanardi was released from hospital on 31 October 2001 – only six weeks after the accident. He immediately started with his rehabilitation, “When he first showed up at the prosthetic centre, his left stump was still raw, and walking on it with an artificial limb caused considerable pain. Yet every weekday morning he rose early at his mother’s house in Castel Maggiore and drove the nine miles to the centre, in the town of Budrio, to begin his long, difficult hours of rehabilitation.” (Nack 2002)
Alex worked tirelessly. His number one objective at that time was to be able to walk again, “On artificial legs for the first time, bracing himself with his arms on parallel bars, he walked like a newborn foal. ‘I was really putting pressure with my arms, and I was crossing my legs,’ he says. ‘I thought, Man, I’ll never be able to do it right! Then you improve and have more feeling. You start to walk better. First time you step on these new legs, it’s bloody hard. It’s painful on your pelvic bones. But every day I get more of a feel for where my feet are.’” (Nack 2002)
By July 2002, about ten months after his accident, he was back with the CART series, walking on crutches and visiting his friends. Going back to car racing had been on the back of his mind for some time already, and now he started to formulate concrete plans. And indeed – 20 months after the accident, in May 2003, he was back at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, dealing with unfinished business: he completed the 13 remaining laps from the 2001 race. He did so in an impressive manner – steering a specifically fitted car that allowed him to control everything by hand, he clocked 37.487 seconds in his fastest lap. A time with which he would have qualified fifth for the actual CART race that weekend. Everyone was amazed.
Soon after, Alex was back in competitive racing, for the 10th round of the 2003 European Touring Car Championship, driving a BMW 320i. He finished an impressive seventh. This convinced everyone that he still had what it took, and in the following year he was back racing full-time.
In 2005, Zanardi competed in the World Touring Car Championship where he scored a race win at the series’ round in Oschersleben, and finished tenth overall. In the same year, Alex won the Italian Super Touring Car Championship. Zanardi remained extremely busy for the next four years, competing in 94 races of which he won seven.
At the end of 2009, car racing took a backseat for Zanardi: by then, the 43-year-old had taken up paracycling and showed real prospect. A few years later, in 2014, he would start competing in cars again racing occasionally until 2019 – however, his main focus was now on three rather than four wheels.
Paralympic Glory
Zanardi approached his paracycling career in the same way he had earlier car racing and his rehabilitation after the accident in Lausitz: with optimism, dedication and an indomitable can-do spirit. “I’ve never met a single person with the mental strength of that guy. He’s super human”, said CART team owner Chip Ganassi, when asked about his former driver. (Ganassi 2019)
And Alex didn’t have to wait long for results: he first stood on the podium of the Paracycling Road World Championships in 2011, winning silver in the time trial. A year later, an even bigger prize beckoned: the Paralympic Games in London. “Zanardi made his name as a Paralympian (…), creating one of the iconic images of the Games by lifting his hand-cycle above his head after he had captured Paralympic gold in the time trial H4. He went on to win gold in the road race and silver in the mixed relay team H1-4.” (International Paralympic Committee)
The Italian repeated this feat four years later at the Games in Rio, claiming gold in the time trial and mixed relay events, respectively, as well as silver in the road race. In addition to his Paralympic victories, he also won 12 world championship titles from 2013 to 2019, establishing himself as one of the most successful paracyclists.
A Kind Man
More than his numerous successes, it is through his personality that Zanardi became an inspiration for so many people around the world. Researching for this article, I read a lot about Alex and watched many video interviews with him – in addition to his dedication and never-give-up attitude, amazing charm and sense of humor, optimism and authenticity, they reveal in particular also an enormous zest for life, someone who truly enjoys and is enthusiastic about life. They reveal a happy person, a kind man.
When one reflects about Alex’ paracycling accident, one could easily start asking “why” – why again, after all he had gone through before. I don’t want to end this article in such a somber tone, but rather on a positive note, as I am pretty sure Alex would do it, too. One year after the accident, his wife Daniela spoke about his recovery process, and while it is challenging, he “is in a stable condition, which means he is able to undergo training programmes for both his brain and his body. He can communicate with us, but he is still unable to speak. After a long time in a coma, the vocal cords must regain their elasticity. This is only possible through practice and therapy. He still has a lot of strength in his arms and hands, and is training intensively on the equipment.” (Zanardi 2021)
Alex, as so many others around the world, I hope and pray that you will come back again.
Wishing you all the best, Campione!
References
Nack, William (2002). “Zanardi the brave”. In: The Guardian. 4 August 2002. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,6903,766954,00.html Checked on 19 September 2021.
Ganassi, Chip (2019). In: Associated Press. Alex Zanardi takes center stage as he wheels around Daytona. In: The Morning Call. 7 January 2019. URL: https://www.mcall.com/sports/mc-spt-zanardi-daytona-20190107-story.html Checked on 19 September 2021.
International Paralympic Committee. Alex Zanardi, Italy. Cycling. URL: https://www.paralympic.org/alex-zanardi Checked on 19 September 2021.
Zanardi, Daniela (2021). In: bmw-motorsport.com. Alessandro Zanardi: The recovery process of a real fighter. 1 July 2021. URL: https://www.bmw-motorsport.com/en/topics/magazine-article-pool/alessandro-zanardi-recovery-process.html Checked on 21 September 2021.