Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (pɪsˈtɔriəs; pisˈtɔrjus; born 22 November 1986) is a South African former sprint runner who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 2013. Both of Pistoriuss legs had been amputated below the knees when he was 11 months old. Pistorius ran in both non-disabled sprint events and in sprint events for below-knee amputees. He was the tenth athlete to compete at both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games.After becoming a Paralympic champion, Pistorius attempted to enter non-disabled international competition, over persistent objections of the IAAF and charges that his artificial limbs gave an unfair advantage. Pistorius eventually prevailed in this legal dispute. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Pistorius became the first amputee to win a non-disabled world track medal. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pistorius became the first double-leg amputee to participate in the Olympics.In February 2013, Valentines Day, Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria home. He claimed he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder hiding in the bathroom, but he was arrested and charged with murder. At his trial the following year, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide. He received a five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide and a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for a separate reckless endangerment conviction.He was temporarily released on house arrest in 2015 while the case was presented to a panel at the Supreme Court of Appeal, which overturned the culpable homicide verdict and convicted him of murder. In July Judge Thokozile Masipa extended Pistoriuss sentence to six years. On appeal by the state for a longer prison sentence, the Supreme Court of Appeal more than doubled Pistoriuss prison term to 13 years and five months.

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