When talking about the greatest comebacks in sports, a lot of names come to mind. Lance Armstrong, Nika Lauda, Manchester United in the 1999 Champions League final, Liverpool in the 2005 edition of the same event and many more.

For me, however, one stands out, head and shoulders above the rest: Alex Zanardi.

Zanardi's story is amazing. Hollywood couldn't have written a script this good if it had tried.

Zanardi is an Italian motor racing driver. Throughout his career he had been fast, if a little reckless, and was always well loved by his fans as someone who would always give his all. But in 2001, a crash took his legs and for the time being, his ability to race. But it never took away his desire.

But before revisiting the crash, it would be doing the man a disservice not to take a quick look back at his career. After impressing in F3000, Zanardi was rewarded with the step up to Formula One. After bouncing around for a couple of seasons at teams that could be classified as reasonable at best, he headed stateside to the CART championship, now known as the Champ Car World Series.

In his rookie season, his fearless style caused the fans to fall in love with him. He finished in a tie for second in the championship but one particular moment stood out. At the Laguna Seca race, Zanardi was the orchestrator of a moment of genius at possibly the hardest turn in all of motor racing. The Corkscrew is a ridiculously hard turn that strikes fear into the heart of most drivers and is nearly impossible to get perfectly right, a fact I'm sure anyone who has played Gran Turismo will attest to.

This didnt stop Zanardi from using the turn to pass race leader Bryan Herta after charging through the field, however, and the move is still talked about in racing circles today, referred to as simply, "The Pass."

After his rookie season in CART, Zanardi went from strength to strength, taking the 1997 and 1998 CART titles for Ganassi before being lured back to F1 for 1999 with Williams. It was a case of right place, wrong time, and the dominant Williams team of the 1996 and 1997 was taking its turn in the doldrums. Ironically, Ralf Schumacher did a much better job with a bad hand than Zanardi. Its a shame he tries hard three times a season and collects a large paycheque from Toyota because of his surname these days.

Zanardi was replaced with Jenson Button for the 2000 season and without a ride sat out the year. For 2001 he organized a return to Champ Car with Mo Nunn, who had ironically reccomended Chip shouldn't sign Zanardi back in '96. Funny how things change.

Mo Nunn Racing wasn't a particularly competitive outfit and throughout the season both Zanardi and the team struggled. Then came the race at the Lausitzring. The race had been retitled the American Memorial 500 and was the first major sporting event following the September 11th attacks. Zanardi was having by far his most competitive race of the season when tragedy struck.

As Zanardi was rejoining the track after a late pit stop, he spun and his car was T-boned by Alex Tagliani, setting off a brutal crash. Zanardi's car was ripped to shreds in the impact, as were his legs. The medical team did a fantastic job to get Zanardi to hospital, and from reports, it seems Zanardi all but died. The odds didn't look good.

But Zanardi took the odds and threw them out the window. What was left of his legs following the crash was amputated and the recovery process was a long and winding road, but it was a road Zanardi travelled the way he had raced all those years before. He hit every obstacle head on and gave it his all. He eventually came out of the other side of rehabiliation, walking on two prosthetic limbs. Still, a comeback didn't even seem remotely possible.

It was though, and it all began with him returning to the site of that fateful day, to reel off those last 13 laps of the Lausitzring in 2003. In a specially modified car with hand operated brake and accelerator pedals, he went back on to the track. In typical Zanardi style, he wasn't content to go around at a reasonable speed. He went for it, the only way he knew how, full throttle. Amazingly, his speed would have placed him fifth on the grid for that weekend's event. This convinced Alex a return to racing was not only possible, it was possible to be competitive upon his return.

Zanardi's full-time return to racing happened in 2004 in the European Touring Car Championship. His first season was low-key and he scored few points. For his second season, the ETCC became the World Touring Car Championship and the season went much better. He placed 10th in the championship, taking one win. Where at? It could only be one place: the Lausitzring. He also ran the Italian Super Touring Championship, taking eight wins and with them, the championship.

Thats right, Zanardi, minus both his legs, took on the world stage and won, not just a race but a championship, all with prosthetic legs against able bodied drivers. Lance may have lost a testicle during his cancer battle but those aren't required to cycle up a mountain. Liverpool may have been 3-0 down at halftime but all of their players still had their legs.

Zanardi came back and took on some of the best able-bodied drivers in the world and won, without his legs. Sports Greatest Comeback? There are many candidates but Zanardi has to be the winner. The Laureus awards agreed and he took 2005's greatest comeback award.

If this piece has made you interested in Zanardi's story I have to reccomend his amazing book: Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory. It's a classic and will have you gripped from cover to cover.