Photos From The Paralympics Just Won't Stop Inspiring The Shit Out Of You

In 2001 both of CART and F1 driver Alex Zanardi's legs were sheared off in this violent crash. He would drive again, and win, but in 2007 he made the decision to reinvent himself as a para-cyclist.

After a New York City Marathon victory last year, Zanardi and his hand-powered cycle came to London for the Paralympics. And yesterday, at Brands Hatch raceway in Kent, where he used to race at hundreds of miles an hour, Zanardi took gold in the 16-kilometer time trial. At the finish he unstrapped his handcycle and thrust it above his head, a visual bookend to a career that started off so promisingly—and now, 11 years later, again contains nothing but promise.

The pictures of Zanardi celebrating are great, and belong to that can't-miss genre of Paralympic images. The , and they're absolutely worth your time.