Alex Zanardi, Mario Cipollini's farewell moves everyone
The passing of Alex Zanardi has moved the whole world. So many personalities related to sports and beyond wanted to remember the unfortunate Paralympic champion and before that the Champ Car and Italian Superturismo world championship after his years in Formula 1. It was precisely on his adventure in handbike racing, which led him to win four gold medals between the Paralympic Games in London 2012 and those in Rio 2016, that Mario Cipollini focused. That it was precisely in the great universe of cycling that he got to know and appreciate him.
“It was great to have met you and to have struggled together,” Cipollini recounted on social media, recalling his past experiences alongside Alex Zanardi. “We first met in a small children’s playground, playing with our respective children shortly after we were sitting on the bench telling each other lives. The photos are from a wonderful event in Sardinia, organized by a great friend of ours Andrea Mentasti.”
“In those days it was exciting to share time and listen to you. Rest in peace, and if eternity will allow us to meet again, it would be nice to ride together with what fate has taken from you,” the legendary sprinter added in his farewell message to Zanardi. Cipollini, moreover, as ‘La Nazione’ recalls, recently underwent an operation for some heart problems.
The condolences for Zanardi’s passing crossed every sporting discipline. Even the Federciclismo, the world that had seen him as an absolute protagonist in the last years of his racing career, wanted to pay tribute to him with a minute’s silence before all weekend races. President Cordiano Dagnoni emphasized how Zanardi had gone far beyond the boundaries of sport: “Alex was able to transform the culture of our country, he gave joy and happiness to the people who were lucky enough to know him and hope to so many people in Italy and around the world. I believe these are the most important achievements, even more than his many incredible sporting successes. Without him we are all a little more lonely. What remains is his smile, an imperishable legacy and a spur to never give up, to look at life with the eyes and joy of a child.”
Among the most touching voices was that of Sofia Goggia, who more than once had participated in charity initiatives precisely with Zanardi. The alpine skiing champion posted a video of Alex on her Instagram profile, immortalized as she uttered a phrase that stuck with her: “Whatever may happen in life, it is important to be able to discover the positive side, to find that little bit of good that there is, in everything there is always good and bad: being able to find a little bit of good is a bit like finding the foothold to start building everything else.” Words that inspired Goggia herself in the most difficult moments of her career, which was marked by serious injuries.
The memory of Dr. Claudio Costa, founder of the MotoGP Mobile Clinic and a longtime friend of Zanardi, was also moving. “Alessandro Zanardi has left this mundane world to go racing in the prairies of heaven,” Costa wrote on his Instagram profile, recalling how, after the terrible 2001 crash at the Lausitzring, Zanardi had arrived at the hospital with such serious clinical conditions that he seemed to be without a chance, except that he then astonished the whole world with his extraordinary willpower. “Today the inescapable victor reminded him of this,” the doctor concluded. “At these junctures in life I should say that I am torn with grief, but Alessandro, who with his friendship and sensitivity had redrawn the boundaries of my soul not only as a doctor but as a man, had given me the tools to be able to bear it: the dream that from tragedy comes beauty.”
The tribute to the deceased has even crossed the boundaries of the motorsport and cycling worlds. Even the FIGC, at the invitation of CONI President Luciano Buonfiglio, has ordered a minute’s silence before all weekend competitions in the professional, amateur and Paralympic leagues. “The FIGC and President Gabriele Gravina join in the condolences for the passing away at the age of 59 of Alex Zanardi, inimitable sports champion,” reads the Federation’s official note. A significant gesture, considering that Zanardi, although not directly linked to the world of soccer, was a well-known fan of Bologna, the team of his hometown. Finally, even from the Formula 1 paddock, gathered in Miami for the Grand Prix, came a sign of respect: before Saturday’s sprint race, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of Alex Zanardi, who passed away on May 1 at the age of 59.
