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  "path": "/news/moves-in-rome-to-rename-paralympic-centre-in-honour-of-alex-zanardi.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-05T02:52:26.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.wantedinrome.com",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "Sport"
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  "textContent": "Proposal comes as Italy bids farewell to former racing driver and Paralympic champion with funeral in Padua on Tuesday.\nA proposal to name Rome's Paralympic training centre after the late Alex Zanardi is gaining momentum in the Italian capital, with councillors from across the political spectrum backing the initiative in the days following the champion's death.\n\n\nVirginia Raggi, former mayor of Rome and Movimento 5 Stelle councillor, and Carla Canale, a councillor for the Civica Raggi list, have jointly submitted a motion to dedicate the city's Paralympic preparation centre to the former Formula One driver and Paralympic champion who died on Friday aged 59.\n\n\nThe two councillors described the initiative as an act of profound emotion, stating in a joint note that Zanardi had been a powerful example of strength and courage, and that his life had demonstrated that it was possible to rise again after devastating setbacks and to rediscover joy.\n\n\nInitial support from city\nThe renaming proposal immediately found initial support from the city's sports councillor Alessandro Onorato, who said the \"excellent\" idea was worth being pursued.\n\n\nHailing Zanardi as \"a hero, a legend, one of the strongest examples of resilience our country has ever seen\", Onorato said: \"Heroes don't die: they are eternal, and it's right to assess how we can remember him in Rome too.\"\n\n\nHe pledged to discuss the renaming process with the president of the Italian Paralympic Committee, Marco Giunio De Sanctis, and Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri.\n\n\nCentro di Preparazione Paralimpica\nThe centre in question was inaugurated in the EUR district in 2017 and was conceived as an integrated sports facility promoting athletic practice for both disabled and non-disabled participants, with an emphasis on inclusion and a shared passion for sport among young people and enthusiasts.\n\n\nIn arguing for the dedication, Raggi and Canale invoked one of Zanardi's own maxims - that life is always worth living, and that sport offers extraordinary possibilities for improving one's daily existence and recovering motivation - as an expression of the very spirit in which the centre was founded.\n\n\nFuneral in Padua\nThe proposal comes as Italy prepares to bid farewell to Zanardi whose funeral is being held on Tuesday at the Basilica of Santa Giustina in Padua.\n\n\nThe president of the Veneto region, Alberto Stefani, proclaimed a day of regional mourning to coincide with the funeral and ordered all regional offices to fly the Veneto flag at half-mast as a mark of condolence and solidarity with the champion's family.\n\n\nCivic mourning has also been declared in Noventa Padovana, where Zanardi lived with his wife Daniela and son Niccolò, and in Bologna, his birthplace, where flags are also at half-mast.\n\n\nA hugely popular figure in Italy, Zanardi gained widespread respect for reinventing himself after having both legs amputated following a horrific racing-car crash in 2001.\n\n\nHe went on to become one of Italy's most celebrated Paralympic athletes, winning multiple gold medals in both handcycling and paracycling.\n\n\nIn 2020 he suffered another serious road accident during a handcycling event, which left him in a fragile condition and kept him largely out of public life.\n\n\nPhoto credit: Alextype / Shutterstock.com",
  "title": "Moves in Rome to rename Paralympic centre in honour of Alex Zanardi"
}