Alex Zanardi wins Paralympic gold on eve of 15-year anniversary of crash

Alex Zanardi, the former open-wheel auto-racing champion, repeated as Paralympic hand-cycling time trial gold medalist on Wednesday, the day before the 15-year anniversary of his horrific car crash.

Zanardi, 49, prevailed out of a 10-man field in 28 minutes, 36.81 seconds, covering the 20km course in Rio. He won by 2.74 seconds, making up 20 seconds after the 10km split.

“Normally I don’t thank God for these type of things as I believe God has more important stuff to worry about, but today is too much, I had to raise my eyes and thank him," Zanardi said. “I feel very lucky, I feel my life is a never-ending privilege."

Zanardi will attempt to repeat as Paralympic road race champion in his class on Thursday.