{"id":12818,"date":"2026-05-05T12:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/12818\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T12:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:06:09","slug":"thousands-at-funeral-for-italian-auto-champ-and-paralympic-gold-medalist-alex-zanardi-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/12818\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands at funeral for Italian auto champ and Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi | Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PADUA, Italy \u2014 Thousands of fans have attended the funeral for <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/alex-zanardi-death-99d36ea9798b04c6e26fb688514464d5\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alex Zanardi<\/a>, the Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist who died last week at 59.<\/p>\n<p>Zanardi\u2019s handbike was placed near the altar inside the basilica in Padua where the service was held on Tuesday, and his hand cycling teammates sat in the front row near his wife, Daniela, and son, Niccol\u00f2.<\/p>\n<p>kAmp=D@ \ud83d\ude15 2EE6?52?46 H6C6 $E672?@ s@&gt;6?:42=:[ E96 AC6D:56?E 2?5 rt~ @7 u@C&gt;F=2 ~?6[ D&lt;:6C p=36CE@ %@&gt;32[ !2C2=J&gt;A:2? q636 &#8216;:@ 2?5 2 9@DE @7 A@=:E:4:2?D 2?5 @E96C @77:4:2=D]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAmx? a_a_[ k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^K2?2C5:\\EC2?D76CC65\\E@\\A25F2\\9@DA:E2=\\d\\&gt;@?E9D\\27E6C\\4C2D9\\4c2h5h_b25gd46ah74dae536d53_52d5Qm+2?2C5: H2D D6C:@FD=J :?;FC65k^2m \ud83d\ude15 2 92?53:&lt;6 244:56?E 27E6C 4C2D9:?8 :?E@ 2? @?4@&gt;:?8 ECF4&lt; 5FC:?8 2 C6=2J 6G6?E \ud83d\ude15 %FD42?J] +2?2C5: DF776C65 D6C:@FD 724:2= 2?5 4C2?:2= EC2F&gt;2 \ud83d\ude15 E96 4C2D9 2?5 H2D AFE \ud83d\ude15 2 &gt;65:42==J :?5F465 4@&gt;2]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm}62C=J a_ J62CD 62C=:6C[ k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^:E\\H2D\\562E9=J\\BF:6E\\H:E?6DD6D\\C642==\\K2?2C5:D\\4C2D9\\bb__5d3c`65gc6c224c_bd7c5bh4_ch_Qm+2?2C5: =@DE 3@E9 @7 9:D =68Dk^2m \ud83d\ude15 2? 2FE@ C24:?8 4C2D9]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm~?6 72? :?D:56 E96 49FC49 96=5 FA 2 D:8? E92E D2:5[ \u201cu2C6H6== p=6I[ J@FC =686?5 H:== ?6G6C 5:6]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm+2?2C5: H@? EH@ 492&gt;A:@?D9:AD \ud83d\ude15 rp#% \u2014 `hhf 2?5 `hhg \u2014 \ud83d\ude15 E96 &amp;?:E65 $E2E6D[ 2?5 2=D@ 4@&gt;A6E65 \ud83d\ude15 u`]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAmw6 H@? 7@FC 8@=5 &gt;652=D 2?5 EH@ D:=G6CD 2E E96 a_`a 2?5 a_`e !2C2=J&gt;A:4D[ 4@&gt;A6E65 \ud83d\ude15 E96 }6H *@C&lt; r:EJ |2C2E9@? 2?5 D6E 2? xC@?&gt;2? C64@C5]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>kAm+2?2C5: 5:65 @? uC:52J]k^Am<\/p>\n<p>k9C ^m<\/p>\n<p>kAmp! DA@CEDi k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^DA@CEDQm9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@&gt;^DA@CEDk^2mk^Am<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PADUA, Italy \u2014 Thousands of fans have attended the funeral for Alex Zanardi, the Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9463,9465,9506,9512,9350,9140,9519,9540,9539,9591,9555,9445,9488,9483,9386,9380,9521,9397,9426,9385,9399,9410,9417,9432,9427,9542,1283,9388,9484,9466,9490,9420,9418,9451,9461,9502,9510,1287,9429,9450,9567,9578,9574,9480,9482,5821,9516,9473,9580,9406,9534,9583,9523,9415,9411,9408,9407,2599,9589,9400,9384,9496,9492,9381,9474,9452,9413,9423,9412,9448,9392,9378,9430,9377,9507,9471,9544,9143,9389,9517,9550,9559,9524,9522,9479,9494,9530,9556,9421,9404,9504,9592,9548,9455,9437,9501,9499,9495,9508,9443,9569,9396,9560,9393,9431,9456,9454,9558,9584,9416,9571,9468,9469,9460,9481,9557,5,9409,9563,9561,9573,9554,9565,9449,9568,9514,9577,9487,9532,9537,9543,9405,9401,9383,9387,9491,6173,9379,9518,9572,9444,9425,9435,9440,9439,9531,9551,3046,9511,9470,9382,2910,9489,9582,9585,9457,9588,9403,8802,9446,9453,9587,9549,9441,9541,9528,9414,9459,9581,9478,9536,9497,9476,6172,9402,9442,6622,9419,9433,9458,9546,9553,9586,9576,9391,9394,9570,9593,9594,9505,9509,9590,129,9434,9545,9515,9486,9462,9529,9575,9390,9472,9493,9503,9498,9513,9579,9464,9485,9447,9477,9535,9349,9520,9500,9552,9428,9526,9562,9475,9525,1325,9533,9564,9467,9566,9538,9424,9438,9595,9395,9398,9527,9547,9422,9436],"class_list":{"0":"post-12818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-24-hours-of-daytona","9":"tag-24-hours-of-daytona-drivers","10":"tag-24-hours-of-spa-drivers","11":"tag-aaa-championship-car-drivers","12":"tag-alberto-tomba","13":"tag-alex-zanardi","14":"tag-alpine-skiers-of-centro-sportivo-carabinieri","15":"tag-alpine-skiers-of-italian-military-sports-bodies","16":"tag-alpine-skiing","17":"tag-alpine-skiing-at-multi-sport-events","18":"tag-alpine-skiing-competitions","19":"tag-american-open-wheel-series-races","20":"tag-american-open-wheel-car-racing-champions","21":"tag-athletic-sports","22":"tag-auto-races","23":"tag-auto-racing","24":"tag-auto-racing-controversies","25":"tag-auto-racing-organizations","26":"tag-auto-racing-people","27":"tag-auto-racing-series","28":"tag-automotive-events","29":"tag-beatrice-vio","30":"tag-bmw-in-motorsport","31":"tag-bmw-m-drivers","32":"tag-bmw-people","33":"tag-car-manufacturers-of-the-united-kingdom","34":"tag-cars","35":"tag-champ-car","36":"tag-champ-car-champions","37":"tag-champ-car-drivers","38":"tag-champ-car-races","39":"tag-champ-car-seasons","40":"tag-champ-car-world-series","41":"tag-championship-auto-racing-teams","42":"tag-chip-ganassi-racing-drivers","43":"tag-circuit-de-spa-francorchamps","44":"tag-coma","45":"tag-competition","46":"tag-competitors-at-multi-sport-events","47":"tag-cycle-racing","48":"tag-cycle-sport","49":"tag-cycling-people","50":"tag-cyclists","51":"tag-deutsche-tourenwagen-masters","52":"tag-deutsche-tourenwagen-masters-drivers","53":"tag-disability","54":"tag-disability-organizations","55":"tag-disabled-multi-sport-events","56":"tag-driving","57":"tag-endurance-games","58":"tag-endurance-motor-racing","59":"tag-enzo-ferrari","60":"tag-european-auto-racing-series","61":"tag-european-touring-car-championship","62":"tag-european-touring-car-championship-drivers","63":"tag-european-touring-car-cup","64":"tag-european-touring-car-cup-drivers","65":"tag-ferrari","66":"tag-ferrari-people","67":"tag-fia-championships","68":"tag-fia-world-championships","69":"tag-fis-alpine-ski-world-cup","70":"tag-fis-alpine-ski-world-cup-champions","71":"tag-formula-one","72":"tag-formula-one-constructors","73":"tag-formula-one-drivers","74":"tag-formula-one-grands-prix","75":"tag-formula-one-people","76":"tag-formula-one-races","77":"tag-formula-one-seasons","78":"tag-formula-races","79":"tag-formula-racing","80":"tag-formula-racing-drivers","81":"tag-formula-racing-series","82":"tag-formula-three","83":"tag-formula-three-drivers","84":"tag-formula-three-series","85":"tag-funeral","86":"tag-grand-prix-motor-racing","87":"tag-grand-prix-race-reports","88":"tag-grand-am","89":"tag-grand-am-races","90":"tag-gt-world-challenge-europe-endurance-cup","91":"tag-gt-world-challenge-europe-endurance-cup-drivers","92":"tag-handcycle","93":"tag-head-injury","94":"tag-imsa-gt-championship","95":"tag-imsa-gt-championship-races","96":"tag-individual-sports","97":"tag-indycar-series","98":"tag-indycar-series-races","99":"tag-international-cycle-races-hosted","100":"tag-international-olympic-committee-competitions","101":"tag-international-paralympic-committee","102":"tag-international-paralympic-committee-competitions","103":"tag-international-race-of-champions","104":"tag-international-race-of-champions-drivers","105":"tag-international-sports-governing-bodies","106":"tag-international-sports-organizations","107":"tag-ironman-triathlon","108":"tag-italian-alpine-skiers","109":"tag-italian-amputees","110":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