PRETORIA, South Africa—Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, completing a transformation from an acclaimed sprinter at the 2012 Olympics to a convicted criminal led away in a police van with barred windows.
Wearing a dark suit, the double-amputee athlete was subdued when Judge Thokozile Masipa announced the punishment in a Pretoria courtroom, ending a televised trial that was closely followed at home and abroad by those who once admired him.
The man known as the “Blade Runner” because of his carbon-fiber running blades will have to serve 10 months, or one-sixth of his sentence, in prison before he is eligible to be moved to house arrest, legal analysts say.
South Africans seemed torn between acceptance of the ruling, touted by some as an example of judicial accountability in a nation that shed white racist rule 20 years ago, and nagging concern that Pistorius received leniency because he was rich and famous.
“Crime is crime and you’ll pay for it,” said Petrus Lekota, a Johannesburg resident who noted that Pistorius’s well-paid legal team was unable to keep him out of jail.
However, law student Yazeed Mia was surprised that Masipa had earlier acquitted Pistorius of murder and instead convicted him of the lesser crime of culpable homicide, or negligent killing.
“He’s now set a precedent for future crimes,” Mia said. “If a man wants to kill his wife, all he has to do is wait for her to go to the bathroom and shoot her through the door.”
Even if he leaves prison early, his running career is in doubt. The 27-year-old Pistorius, who has won six Paralympic gold medals, will be ineligible to compete in those events during the entirety of his five-year prison sentence, “regardless of where it is served,” the International Paralympic Committee said. Pistorius still could challenge that decision.
The sight of Pistorius racing around the track on his blades was one of the enduring and inspirational images of the London Olympics. Born without fibula bones due to a congenital defect, he had his legs amputated at 11 months old, but grew up playing sports with prosthetics.
Pistorius won his first gold medal at the 2004 Paralympics but was banned from competing against able-bodied athletes because it was argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage. He successfully appealed that ban and later qualified for the London Olympics.
Although he did not win an Olympic medal, Pistorius was cheered for his achievement, and he reveled in his appearance. Even though he finished last in a semifinal heat of the 400 meters, he said: “To step out in front of a crowd this massive, it’s a mind-blowing experience. I’ve had support in the last couple of days like I have never felt before.”
Millions around the world and in South Africa saw Pistorius as a symbol of determination over adversity, and he enjoyed lucrative sponsorship deals, all of them now canceled.
Pistorius out of Paralympic events for five years
That would rule the 27-year-old Pistorius out of the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) called the case “a human tragedy for the family of Reeva Steenkamp and also for Oscar Pistorius,” but declined to comment on his eligibility to compete.
“We hope very much that time will bring comfort to all those concerned but at this stage we have no further comment to make,” IOC Spokesman Mark Adams said.
The International Association of Athletics Federations said: “The IAAF has no comment to make about Oscar Pistorius.”
AP
Image credits: AP