[caption id="attachment_84943" align="alignleft" width="204"]
Gold medalist Alessandro Zanardi of Italy poses with his medal in Rio. — Reuters[/caption]RIO DE JANEIRO — Former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi won his third Paralympic gold medal Wednesday, a day before the 15th anniversary of the Champ Car crash that cost the Italian both legs and nearly his life.
The 49-year-old won the 20km H5 hand-cycling road time trial in Rio de Janeiro to add to the two golds he won on his Paralympics debut in London four years ago.
"Today is too much. I had to raise my eyes and thank God. I feel very lucky, I feel my life is a never-ending privilege," he told NBC television.
[caption id="attachment_84944" align="alignright" width="300"]
Italy's Alessandro Zanardi competes in the men's time trial H5 held in Pontal, during the seventh day of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday. — AP[/caption]Zanardi, a two times champion in the US-based Champ Car series that is now IndyCar, competed in 41 Grands Prix between 1991 and 1999 with his final season at Williams.
He had both legs amputated above the knee, with his heart stopping seven times as he lost all but a liter of the blood in his body, after the horrific crash at the Lausitzring in Germany on Sept. 15, 2001.
The Italian was leading the race when he lost control of his Reynard-Honda in the final laps and Canadian Alex Tagliani ran into him at more than 350kph.
"The car broke into two pieces, one bit of me stayed with the car and the other bit, which was my legs, went 'arrivederci' in the other direction," he said before competing at the London 2012 Games.
Zanardi, who had been read the last rites, returned to racing a year and a half after the accident and competed in the world touring car championship until 2009, by which time he had taken up hand-cycling.
Two years after the accident, he returned to the Lausitzring and finished the 13 laps that he had failed to complete during the race.
Argentine judoka disqualified
Argentine Jorge Lencina has been disqualified by a doping violation from the men's judo -90kg at the Rio Paralympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee announced Wednesday.
Results from a urine test taken by the 40-year-old judoka revealed the presence of clomiphene, a substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list, according to a statement by the IPC.
"Lencina has had his seventh place finish in the men's -90kg class from last Saturday (10 September) disqualified," the IPC said.
His Rio 2016 accreditation has been cancelled and he has departed the Paralympic Village, it added.
