Oscar Pistorius
Updated on 6 September 2012. Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius OIB (/pɪsˈtɔriəs/; born 22 November 1986) is a South African sprint runner. Although both of Pistorius' legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, he has competed in events for single below-knee amputees and for able-bodied athletes. After becoming a Paralympic champion, Pistorius attempted to enter able-bodied 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 an able-bodied world track medal. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men's 400 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay races. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Pistorius won gold medals in the men's 400-metre race and in the 4 × 100 metres relay, setting world records in both events. He also took silver in the 200-metre race, having set a world record in the semifinal. In February 2013, Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in his Pretoria home. He said he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder, but he was arrested and charged with murder. At his trial in 2014 he was found guilty of culpable homicide. In October 2014, Pistorius received a five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide and a concurrent three-year suspended prison sentence for a separate reckless endangerment conviction. In November, prosecutors asked the sentencing judge for permission to appeal the verdict; permission was granted in December and the case will next be presented to a five-person panel at the Supreme Court of Appeal.