FACT BOX | Oscar Pistorius: ‘Blade Runner’, murder convict, parolee

Former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius was released on parole on Friday, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend. Pistorius, called "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs, fatally shot 29-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door on Valentine's Day in 2013.

"The department of correctional services is able to confirm Oscar Pistorius is a parolee, effectively from January 5 2024. He was admitted into the system of community corrections and is now at home," the country's prisons department said.

Pistorius, now 37, has spent about eight and a half years in jail and seven months under home arrest.

In November last year a parole board decided he could be freed with conditions attached. A monitoring official will keep an eye on him until his sentence expires in December 2029, who Pistorius will have to inform if he seeks job opportunities or moves to a new address. He is also required to continue therapy for anger management and attend sessions on gender-based violence.

Pistorius was once the darling of the sports world and a pioneering voice for disabled athletes, for whom he campaigned to be allowed to compete with able-bodied participants at major sports events. 

Here are some facts about Pistorius' life.

CHILDHOOD

Pistorius was born on November 22 1986 in Johannesburg.

Born without fibulas, a lower leg bone, he had both legs amputated below the knees before turning one.

After learning to walk on prosthetic legs, Pistorius became a sportsman in high school. He turned to sprint training in 2003 after suffering a serious knee injury while playing rugby.

SPORTS CAREER

Running on carbon-fibre prosthetic blades, Pistorius became a Paralympic gold medallist over 200m in at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004.

In January 2008 Pistorius was banned from running against able-bodied athletes by the sport's governing body, the IAAF, which deemed his blades provided an unfair advantage. Four months later the Court for Arbitration for Sport ruled he was eligible to compete in IAAF-sanctioned events. He capped the year by winning three golds at the Paralympics in Beijing, China.

Pistorius was selected for South Africa's London team and in August 2012 he became the first double amputee to compete on the track at an Olympic Games, where he reached the 400m semi-finals. He also carried the flag for South Africa at the opening ceremony of the London Paralympic Games and won two gold medals.

MURDER TRIAL

Pistorius was arrested and charged with murder after he fired four shots at his Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door at his Pretoria home on February 14 2013.

He was convicted of culpable homicide in September 2014, but was let off the more serious charge of murder. He started his five-year jail sentence in October, but was a year later released to house arrest.

However, in December 2015 the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the earlier ruling and found Pistorius guilty of murder. He was sent back to jail for six years in July 2016, which was less than half the 15-year minimum term sought by prosecutors.

The Supreme Court more than doubled his sentence to 13 years and five months in November 2017, accepting state prosecutors arguments that the original jail term was "shockingly lenient".

Reuters