JOHANNESBURG, June 5 (Reuters) – South African former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius was noticed collaborating in a triathlon final weekend within the coastal metropolis of Durban, 12 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a criminal offense that drew worldwide consideration.
Pistorius, 38, was freed from jail in January 2024 after finishing greater than half his sentence and is on parole till his sentence expires in 2029.
Singabakho Nxumalo, spokesperson for South Africa’s Division of Correctional Providers, stated Pistorius had approval to attend the race, the Ironman 70.3 Durban.
“There was no breach by way of his parole situations,” Nxumalo stated.
Afrikaans-language information web site Netwerk24 first reported Pistorius’ participation within the occasion on Wednesday.
Conrad Dormehl, an legal professional for Pistorius, confirmed to Reuters that Pistorius had featured within the Durban race.
“This kinds a part of his rehabilitation into society. While he notably loved collaborating within the occasion and appears to have been bitten by the bug that’s triathlon sport, he isn’t eyeing any comeback into aggressive working simply but,” he stated.
Pistorius – dubbed “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs – shot useless 29-year-old mannequin Steenkamp by way of a locked lavatory door on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
He repeatedly stated he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and launched a number of appeals in opposition to his conviction on that foundation.
His launch on parole after about eight and a half years in jail, in addition to seven months below home arrest, provoked a uncooked response in a rustic scarred by violence against women.
Netwerk24 printed {a photograph} of Pistorius using a bicycle with the race quantity 105, his distinctive tattoo and prosthetic legs seen.
Reuters contacted the photographer who gave the information company permission to publish photos much like the one Netwerk24 used.
Outcomes printed on-line by sports-timing firm SportSplits present an athlete referred to as Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius with race quantity 105 got here 555th amongst all contributors within the Ironman race and third within the “bodily challenged” class.
The course concerned a 2-km swim, a 90-km bike trip and a 21-km run – a complete distance of 70.3 miles.
Pistorius was as soon as a darling of the sports activities world, and a pioneering voice for disabled athletes, for whom he campaigned to be allowed to compete with able-bodied contributors at main sports activities occasions.
He received six gold medals over three Paralympic Video games in Athens, Beijing and London, and competed in able-bodied races on the London 2012 Olympics.
(Further reporting by Mark Gleeson, Alexander Profitable, Maria Paula Laguna and Siphiwe Sibeko; Modifying by Alexander Profitable and Alex Richardson)
