For Handcyclist, Paralympics Are a Stirring Triumph BRANDS HATCH, England - He averaged just a fraction under 20 miles per hour for the two-hour handcycle road race, and he reached a maximum speed, running downhill, of 46 m.p.h. He did it on this track famous for the Grand Prix races run here in the years before he became a marquee name in Formula One and IndyCar racing. Peter Macdiarmid/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images A parade celebrating Britain's Olympic and Paralympic Games athletes passed by Trafalgar Square. But for Alex Zanardi, a delirious 45-year-old who before he lost his legs thrilled IndyCar crowds by lapping the fastest oval tracks in the world at more than 230 m.p.h., there was no question. "I did the best race of my life," he said. To see Zanardi winning two handcycling gold medals in the Paralympic Games, which ended in London on Sunday after two weeks of competition, was to witness the culmination of a comeback on a scale beyond improbable. It has been something perhaps only the irrepressible Zanardi could have imagined after the brutal crash in Germany in 2001 that severed his legs and drained two-thirds of his blood onto the track. A chaplain administered last rites as Zanardi was flown by helicopter to a Berlin hospital, where doctors told him he was "technically speaking, a dead man" when he came under their care. Lifted gently onto the Brands Hatch track by his team after each of his gold medal-winning performances last week - in the 40-mile road race and in the time trials - Zanardi seemed like a living parable for the triumph-over-adversity theme that infuses the Paralympics, which drew more than 4,300 disabled athletes from 164 countries including the United States and 2.5 million paying spectators. After an open-top bus parade through central London by British competitors on Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron spoke for many in his praise of the athletes. "You have given us moments that we will never forget," he said. The whole country salutes your brilliance. Zanardi delivered some of the most stirring performances of the Games. Tears coursing down his face, he hoisted his high-tech, carbon-fiber racing tricycle aloft in triumph after each of his wins. Dense crowds pressing against the spectator fences joined in a rhythmic chanting of Zanardi's name - "A-lex! A-lex! Already a hero in Italy for his feats in auto racing and handcycling, he leaned forward on both occasions to kiss the asphalt. On Saturday, Zanardi added a silver medal to his two individual golds after anchoring the Italian team to the runner-up spot in the time-trial relay race at Brands Hatch, where he first competed as a racing driver 21 years ago, on his way to four years in Formula One and another four years in CART racing, the open-wheeled American championship that ultimately merged with the rival IndyCar series. In CART racing, he won the series titles in 1997 and 1998, winning 15 races and establishing himself as one of the series" most formidable drivers, alongside rivals like Michael Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti and Al Unser Jr. Tweets from several of his former competitors, especially Franchitti, have flowed in since his Paralympic wins. In an interview Monday, after a late night on Sunday at the main Olympic stadium as flagbearer for the Italian team at the Games" exuberant closing ceremony, he could barely contain his excitement. Even the New York City Marathon, which he won at his fourth attempt last November, does not rank with his triumphs here. "I've never known happiness like this since I put myself on this horizon," he said, referring to his decision to take up handcycling full-time three years ago. In handcycling, three-wheeled machines couple specially designed aerodynamic wheels and multispeed gearing to hand-operated cranks, with legless riders like Zanardi seated snugly, upright, in carbon-fiber farings. Zanardi's medals brought a new challenge in the form of an offer from Jimmy Vasser, a former CART rival and current IndyCar team owner, in a telephone call before the Brands Hatch races. "He said, "If you win, I'm going to give you a car for the Indy 500," " Zanardi recalled on the evening of the first win. "So I'm going to call him back and say, "Jimmy, here I am. I've got the gold medal. How about the car?" "