Nearly 20 years ago, 53-year-old Zanardi suffered a horrific crash at a Cart race in Germany and lost both legs and was very close to perishing.

The Italian returned to the sports arena as a para athlete and won four Paralympic golds in Paracycling in 2012 and 2016.

Zanardi crashed with a truck in a downhill hill at a competition in paracycling, where you sit low and move forward with powerful arm movements.

The coach saw the crash in a companion car

- It happened on a small downhill just before a weak curve. Alex turned slightly into the opposite road just when a truck came. The truck tried to turn but could not avoid the crash, national team coach Mario Valentini tells Repubblica. The coach was in a companion car.

Zanardi must have been aware throughout the rescue and breathed himself before being taken to a hospital in Siena, Tuscany.