Oscar Pistorius competes in triathlon 12 years after murdering girlfriend
South African former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius was spotted taking part in a triathlon last weekend in the coastal city of Durban, 12 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a crime that drew worldwide attention.
Pistorius, 38, was freed from jail in January 2024 after completing more than half his sentence and is on parole until his sentence expires in 2029.
Singabakho Nxumalo, spokesperson for South Africa's Department of Correctional Services, said Pistorius had approval to attend the race, the Ironman 70.3 Durban. "There was no breach in terms of his parole conditions," Nxumalo said.
Afrikaans-language news website Netwerk24 first reported Pistorius' participation in the event on Wednesday.
Conrad Dormehl, an attorney for Pistorius, confirmed to Reuters that Pistorius had featured in the Durban race.
"This forms part of his rehabilitation into society. Whilst he particularly enjoyed participating in the event and seems to have been bitten by the bug that is triathlon sport, he isn't eyeing any comeback into competitive running just yet," he said.
Pistorius — dubbed "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs - shot dead 29-year-old model Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door on Valentine's Day in 2013.
He repeatedly said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and launched multiple appeals against his conviction on that basis.
His release on parole after about eight and a half years in jail, as well as seven months under house arrest, provoked a raw response in a country scarred by violence against women.
Netwerk24 published a photograph of Pistorius riding a bicycle with the race number 105, his distinctive tattoo and prosthetic legs visible.
Reuters contacted the photographer who gave the news agency permission to publish images similar to the one Netwerk24 used.
Results published online by sports-timing company SportSplits show an athlete called Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius with race number 105 came 555th among all participants in the Ironman race and third in the "physically challenged" category.
The course involved a 2-km swim, a 90-km bike ride and a 21-km run - a total distance of 70.3 miles.
Pistorius was once a darling of the sports world, and a pioneering voice for disabled athletes, for whom he campaigned to be allowed to compete with able-bodied participants at major sports events.
He won six gold medals over three Paralympic Games in Athens, Beijing and London, and competed in able-bodied races at the London 2012 Olympics.
Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
3 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Blast rocks church in Syria's Damascus, eyewitnesses say
A blast rocked the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, according to witnesses. One told Reuters a suicide bomber detonated himself inside the church. A spokesperson for Damascus security forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Al Etihad
13 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Football: One spectator dead, several injured after falling from upper stand in Algeria
22 June 2025 10:00 ALGIERS (REUTERS)One spectator died and several others were injured after falling from an upper stand of the stadium following MC Alger winning the Algerian top-flight league for the second season in a row, media reports said on Alger said one of their supporters had died in the incident at the 5 July Stadium in capital Algiers, with Algerian president Abdelmadjid Tebboune offering his condolences and wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.'It is with great sadness and sorrow and with hearts that we received the news of our supporter Younes Amguzzi, who passed away after falling from the upper stands,' MC Alger said in an Instagram media reports said the spectators fell after a fence in the upper stand broke, with El Heddaf TV's Facebook page posting a video showing part of a railing collapsed into the lower tier. The injured spectators were rushed to hospital, where MC Alger players, staff and officials also went to donate blood as the trophy presentation ceremony was postponed, the reports added.
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Al Etihad
Football: After heat, Club World Cup weathers storms and threat of lightning
21 June 2025 16:15 (REUTERS)From stifling heat to thunderstorms, the Club World Cup has been at the mercy of the extremes of the American summer, with the threat of lightning now forcing players to retreat to the tunnels while fans seek shelter as matches are suddenly soaring temperatures and oppressive humidity initially fuelled concerns among players and fans, it is the crackling skies and pouring rain that have emerged as the tournament's most disruptive match in Orlando between Benfica and Auckland City was suspended after halftime for nearly two hours due to a lightning storm in the the same venue on Tuesday, fans had barely settled into their seats when the referee ordered Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns to return to the dressing rooms, with the match delayed for more than an hour due to the threat of witnessed an even longer interruption when a severe thunderstorm suspended Red Bull Salzburg's clash with Pachuca for more than 90 and Al Ahly saw their contest in New Jersey halted for 50 minutes due to lightning near MetLife Stadium."Your attention please. For your safety, we are going to have everyone leave the Seating Bowl area and take shelter inside the stadium because of severe weather in the area," said a safety message flashed on the big screens in the arena."Event staff are available to guide and assist you. Those on the field, please walk calmly to the nearest tunnel... or to the service corridor." Threat of Lightning Heavy rain is often the X-factor for the home side on a cold, wet night in Stoke -- which lends itself to the famous English soccer cliche -- but the same cannot be said in the United to the country's National Weather Service (NWS), 75% of lightning-related deaths in the last decade occurred from June to organisers FIFA have weather protocols in place to ensure the safety of those on the pitch and in the there is lightning within 10 miles (16.09 km) of the stadium, an automatic match suspension is match director is informed, who in turn asks the referee to stop play. The storm is monitored before players are called back out, with the warm-up time before the restart dictated by the time they spent off the pitch. Fans are also asked to leave the stands and find shelter in the concourse, with one source saying the stadiums had the capacity to keep them inside until the storm passed.
