Oscar Pistorius is set to be released from prison on parole - nearly 11 years after the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
In February 2013, the now-37-year-old former Paralympian and Olympian shot his girlfriend - model and law graduate Steenkamp - four times through their bathroom door.
The South African athlete claimed that he thought Steenkamp was a burglar and that the shooting was accidental.
After being charged with murder and released on bail, Pistorius' first trial began in March 2014 - and, six months later, he was found not guilty of murder, but instead charged with the lesser culpable homicide. He was sentenced to five years in prison the following month.
However, after being released in October 2015 on house arrest, a five-judge appeals court ruled that Pistorius was never held accountable for "dolus eventualis" - a South African legal term that refers to whether or not a person knew that a potential death would come of their actions.
Pistorius was later found guilty of Steenkamp's murder, and, in July 2016, he was sentenced to six years in prison.
The following year, this was increased to 13 years and five months by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal.
Now, Sky News has reported that Pistorius will now be released from prison in January, 2024 - nearly 11 years after Steenkamp's death on Valentine's Day 2013.
It comes after Pistorius was denied parole in March of this year, per The Guardian. His decision to be given a second parole hearing so soon was made after the athlete's attorney argued to the Constitutional Court that errors had been made when his client was eligible for parole.
Sky News reports that "granting a second hearing was seen as effectively an admission of the appeal court's error."
Pistorius was once a celebrated Paralympic sprinter and Olympic athlete.
Born on November 22, 1986, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Pistorius faced significant adversity early in life. He was born with fibular hemimelia, leading to the amputation of both legs below the knee when he was just 11 months old. However, throughout his early life, Pistorius would redefine the boundaries of athletics for differently-abled athletes.
After being introduced to running in 2003, his entry into track and field was meteoric; he quickly made a name for himself with his groundbreaking performances. Racing on carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, he earned the nickname "Blade Runner," and soon started shattering records. He won gold medals in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Paralympics, dominating in the T44 (single below-knee amputees) classification in 100m, 200m, and 400m events.
Pistorius’ crowning athletic achievement came in 2012 when he became the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympic Games, participating in the 400m and 4x400m relay in London. This historic moment was not just a personal victory for Pistorius but a monumental step for Paralympic athletes worldwide.
But his athletic successes have now been overshadowed by the harrowing killing of Steenkamp - marking one of the most substantial falls from grace for any professional athlete.
