CERVIA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 21: Alex Zanardi of Italy celebrates finishing IRONMAN Italy on September 21, 2019 in Cervia, Italy. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
The FIGC has confirmed that there will be a minute’s silence before every Serie A match in the 35th round of fixtures in tribute to the late Alex Zanardi, who has died at the age of 59.
Serie A will remember Zanardi before every Week 35 match
“It is with deep sorrow that the family communicates the death of Alessandro Zanardi, which occurred suddenly yesterday evening, May 1st,” read a statement from his family on Saturday morning.
“Alex passed away peacefully, surrounded by the affection of his loved ones. The family sincerely thanks all those who are showing closeness in these hours and asks for respect for their pain and privacy in this moment of mourning”.
Zanardi was an icon of Italian paralympic sport. A former motor sports driver who competed in Formula One between 1991 and 1994 and again in 1999, he had both legs amputated after a serious crash during a CART event in 2001.
Zanardi miraculously recovered and continued racing in specially-adapted cars across various different race formats, before turning his focus to hand cycling.
He would go on to win four gold medals and two silvers between the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro.
He was sadly involved in another major accident in 2020 while competing in the Obiettivo tricolore, the Italian national road race for paralympic athletes. This accident left him hospitalised for 18 months and with life-altering injuries.
Zanardi died on Friday, May 1, at the age of 59.
Many Serie A clubs and coaches have paid their respects to the late Zanardi on social media and in their pre-match press conferences on Saturday.
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