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Former open-wheel champion Alex Zanardi wins 3rd Paralympic gold medal

Former open-wheel driver Alex Zanardi won a gold medal at the Paralympics for the third time Wednesday.

Alex Zanardi won two golds in London in 2012 (Getty).
Alex Zanardi won two golds in London in 2012 (Getty).

The 49-year-old was victorious in the H5 time trial in Rio De Janeiro. The H5 is a hand-cycling road event and Zanardi’s winning time of 28:36.81 beat out Australia’s Stuart Tripp by more than 2.5 seconds.

Zanardi’s Rio gold comes almost exactly 15 years after he lost parts of his legs in a horrific open-wheel accident. Zanardi was driving for Mo Nunn Racing in the CART race at Lausitz (Germany), on September 15, 2001. Zanardi’s car spun after he left the pits late in the race and he was struck by the oncoming car of Alex Tagliani.

The impact from Tagliani’s car tore the nose off the car. Open-wheel cockpits are unlike a traditional driver’s seat setup. Drivers sit low in the car and with their legs straight out in front towards the nose of the vehicle.

Zanardi won the 1997 and 1998 CART championships while racing for Chip Ganassi. He won 15 races from 1996-1998 in the series and left after the 1998 season for a second shot in Formula 1. He drove for the Williams team but only recorded four top-10 finishes in 16 races. 2001 was his return season to CART.

1990s open-wheel fans may remember Zanardi more for what he did in his first CART season than his two championships. During the 1996 race at Laguna Seca, Zanardi executed a ridiculous takeover of Bryan Herta on the circuit’s famed corkscrew section during the race’s final lap for the win. It’s a maneuver that’s become simply known as “The Pass.”

Zanardi continued auto racing after the accident, first with hand-controlled cars and then with cars tweaked so he could use his prosthetic legs and feet. He also started handcycling and finished fourth in the New York City Marathon after training for just a month. He’s even competed in the Ironman triathlon using a handbike and a wheelchair for the cycling and running portions of the race.

Zanardi won the H5 time trial by nearly 3 seconds (Getty).
Zanardi won the H5 time trial by nearly 3 seconds (Getty).

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!