Former Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, known for his nickname "Bladerunner" due to his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, starts a new chapter as he is conditionally released from prison this Friday.
Pistorius, who shot and killed his girlfriend in 2013, will remain under strict supervision until the end of his sentence in 2029, as reported by the BBC.
Under the terms of his release, Pistorius's freedom of movement will be limited. He is required to stay in his home for set hours daily and is prohibited from consuming alcohol or speaking to the media.
Pistorius initially gained fame as a Paralympic champion, celebrated for his gold medal in the 400 meters at the 2012 London Paralympics. However, his image drastically changed following the fatal shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, a law student and model, whom he had been dating for three months.
He initially claimed to have mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder, shooting her through a bathroom door. In 2014, he was sentenced for culpable homicide (equivalent to manslaughter in South Africa), but this was later converted to murder by an appellate court in 2015.
In 2016, Pistorius received a six-year jail term, significantly less than the 15 years demanded by prosecutors. This sentence was subsequently increased to 13 years and 5 months by the South African Supreme Court in 2017, citing the initial sentence as "shockingly lenient" for the committed crime.
