From being the first amputee to participate in a Olympic Games to spend 10 years behind bars for murder his girlfriend. From winning eight Paralympic medals to shooting four shots against Reeva Steenkamp through a door of his house, in Pretoria. Since her legs were amputated at 11 months of age, Oscar Pistorius had saved vital and sporting obstacles with his carbon fiber prosthesis. Until the early morning of February 14, 2013, when the current against which he had fought all his life swept him away. He was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter, a sentence that was appealed twice until it became 15 years in prison for murder. After a attempt to suicide and various controversies surrounding the crime that shocked public opinion, the South African athlete returns to the fore. For the fateful anniversary and because it is eligible for parole starting next month.
Pistorius (Johannesburg, 1986) was born with a congenital problem which led his parents to decide to amputate both of his legs below the knees. Sport, which he does not understand limitations, was his great ally during his childhood. He boxed, jumped and played rugby until mid 2003 when he tried athletics. “People like this are not born every day“said one of his first coaches, Ampie Louw. His career was brilliant. Months later he won the first gold medal in the Athens Paralympic Games and got three more in Beijing 2008.
He was not satisfied with that and demanded to compete with athletes without disabilities. Beyond the debate about the advantages and disadvantages of running with braces, the Court of Arbitration for Sport recognized that same year his right to participate in the Olympic Games. In this way, he reached the top running on two carbon prostheses in 2012. He achieved the minimum mark to contest the 400 meters from London. He made it through the heats and placed last in the semifinals, but by crossing the finish line he became a world overcoming icon.
Four shots despite being in love
He was the man of the hour. He attended saraos and various recognitions, rubbed shoulders with the ‘crème de la crème’ and even Nelson Mandela praised him. However, behind that idyllic image there was also a Pistorius impetuous and jealous, passionate about weapons and with a history of domestic incidents of which the police were already aware, as reported during the media trial for the death of the 29-year-old model and lawyer.
In front of the court and in the interviews he gave to the media, the athlete stood by his guns: shot because he suspected a thief had broken into the house and declared himself totally in love with the young woman. He sometimes burst into tears and on other occasions showed an exculpatory attitude. The ballistics report, on the other hand, revealed that Steenkamp received the fatal shot to the head when he was in “a defensive position”, with his hands covering his face. After a decade on OlympusPistorius rushed unceremoniously to the hells.
Others speak on your behalf
Prison has not silenced Pistorius. Not at least his story. In 2017 the film was released ‘Blade Runner Killer‘, which recreates the murder and trial. The title is not trivial, it refers to the nickname Pistorius received for the blade-shaped prostheses he used to compete. The ‘biopic’ outraged both families, just like the documentary ‘Pistorius’, produced by Amazon Prime Video in 2018.
In the year of the pandemic, the BBC was harshly criticized for the trailer for ‘The Oscar Pistorius Trials‘. This documentary collects statements from some admirers of the runner, who describe the athlete as “a good guy” that he was “thrown to the lions” during the trial. The program also suggests that Steenkamp’s death was “an accident”. Likewise, viewers criticized the chain for not mentioning the lawyer and model by name, who is addressed as “his girlfriend” or simply “she”, and denounced that she retarded Pistorius as a victim.
swings of justice
Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter in October 2014. Although the Prosecutor’s Office appealed the sentence, the athlete was granted probation under house arrest one year later. The Supreme Court of Appeals heard the appeal and a judge increased the sentence to six years in July 2016, for which the Paralympic medalist went back to jail. Las prison authorities reported in August that he had self-harmed. Specifically, they specified that it had been done wrist cuts. However, the family denied the attempt to take his own life and assured that it was a mere accident.
Meanwhile, the prosecution continued to be dissatisfied with the sentence, which considered that there were extenuating circumstances, and presented another requirement. On November 24, 2017 Pistorius was convicted of murder with a punishment of 15 years behind bars. Even so, the ruling allows him to opt for parole again on March 24 and Pistorius has been preparing for months to get it, as if it were a race.
Read ‘The Bible’ and have contact with the victim’s family
Since November 2021, he has been in a prison near where Steenkamp’s parents live. The measure is intended to facilitate a process known as ‘dialogue between victim and offender’, essential to achieve release. Pistorius and Barry Steenkamp met for the first time on June 22, reported the lawyer for the victim’s family, who declined to give more details for privacy reasons.
In order to finally get out of prison, a committee must listen to the opinion of a psychologist, the social worker, those responsible for the prison and, above all, it must listen to the opinion of the victim’s parents. Meanwhile, those close to the athlete explain that the Paralympic medalist dedicates hours reading ‘The Bible’a very different ‘hobby’ from the one he had of playing football with a former boss of the Czech mafia, and he counts the hours to be once again a man against the current.
