Alex Zanardi

Alessandro Zanardi grew up near Bologna and lost his older sister in a car accident when he was 13. He raced karts he built himself, reached Formula One in 1991 and had a frustrating time there with unreliable cars. In the United States, driving in the CART series, he became a star, winning back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998 with an aggressive style and a habit of celebrating with doughnuts on the track.

On 15 September 2001, at the Lausitzring in Germany, his car spun as it left the pits and was hit side-on at nearly 200 miles an hour. Both his legs were severed and he lost almost three quarters of his blood. He was resuscitated several times on the way to hospital and given last rites. He was 34.

He learned to walk on prosthetic legs he helped design himself, and within two years was back in a racing car fitted with hand controls, going on to win races in the World Touring Car Championship. In 2007 he tried a handbike, and it became his second career. At the London Paralympics in 2012 he won two golds and a silver, and did the same again in Rio in 2016 at the age of 49.

In June 2020, during a handcycling relay in Tuscany, he collided with a lorry and suffered severe head injuries. He spent many months in hospital and continues a long recovery at home.