Pistorius: From Global Icon To A Prison Cell

In his saintly prime, it was hard not to be beguiled by Oscar Pistorius.

From the waist up, the smiling South African with sparkling eyes was the very image of a world-class athlete. From the knees down he seemed almost miraculous, a model of strength over adversity on carbon-fibre blades.

Pistorius’s was a remarkable story when his ambition was confined to becoming the greatest disability sportsman of his time.

Among the legion of remarkable athletes who make up the Paralympic movement however, a double amputation did not make him unusual, even if performances were unprecedented.

It was his determination to compete against able-bodied opponents that took him into a category of one. It elevated him to genuine worldwide celebrity, and allowed the Paralympic movement to follow in his slipstream.

It was not a straightforward journey, and along the way he demonstrated that the single-mindedness required to overcome disability extended well beyond the track.

Pistorius repeatedly challenged the sporting authorities to allow him to run despite misgivings that his blades were not comparable, and may even confer an advantage in the gruelling late stages of a 400m race.

He was initially banned from competing but following appeals, and under significant pressure, the International Association of Athletics Federations admitted him to run first at the World Championships in 2011, and a year later at London 2012.

That decision opened the door not just to sporting history but to a hugely lucrative career. Paralympians, by and large, do not make a good living, if they make a living at all.

As a Paralympian in Olympic sport Pistorius earned around £1.5m a year in endorsements. Track and field is a sport struggling to maintain its position, and the South African was better known than any of the men he was to compete against.

This commercial imperative meant it was often possible to detect a cynical edge to the Pistorius promotion machine. His status attracted major sponsors, British Telecom among them, and he was a model client.

His press conferences in the summer of 2012 were an object lesson in how to keep media and sponsor happy. At both Olympics and Paralympics he sat for hours, answering questions he’d faced a thousand times before but betraying not a trace of impatience.

It struck me at the time that only a man of extreme faith or rare focus could have managed it. Pistorius was clearly possessed of both.

Cynicism had little answer to the climax of his career in London, when reached the semi-finals of the Olympic 400m, a bigger draw than the eventual champion Kirani James, who said it was a “privilege” to compete against him.

The tragedy of what followed at Pistorius’ home on Valentine’s Day 2013 bears heaviest on the Steenkamp family, robbed of their daughter.

After the five year jail sentence handed down for that crime Pistorius is unlikely to make another podium, and has forfeited his place on a pedestal for ever.