Four-time Paralympic gold medallist and ex-F1 driver Alessandro (Alex) Zanardi hailed from Italy. Zanardi, who began racing karts at age 13, made his F1 debut in 1991 and won CART championships in 1997 and 1998. He lost both legs in a CART crash in 2001. In 2020, he was seriously injured after a truck struck him during charity para-cycling relay.