Will the Oscar Pistorius show ever end?
The former Olympian and convicted murderer has competed in a triathlon while still on parole. So much for keeping a low profile.
It’s not everyday that ‘middle-aged man competes in triathlon’ makes headlines. Frankly, I could live the rest of my days without hearing about how they lost vital seconds at the first changeover after a tussle with their wetsuit.
But what I could happily hear even less about is Oscar Pistorius taking part in a triathlon. Yes, you read that correctly: the man convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, 29, on Valentine’s Day in 2013, competed in a sporting event last weekend, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
It’s bad enough that he was given parole and allowed to walk out of prison in January last year. The former Olympian and Paralympian had served eight-and-a-half years of his sentence for repeatedly shooting Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, through the lavatory door, using ‘expanding bullets’ that open-up on impact and are designed to cause maximum damage. He has always claimed that he believed her to be an intruder.
At the time of his release, we were told that Pistorius, 38, planned to keep a low profile and live a reclusive existence. He was, we learnt, volunteering at a local church and sweeping the floors. Reports said that he’d lost his fitness in prison (diddums) and grown a beard, as though that was some symbol of contrition.
And yet, almost 18 months on, here we are.
“This forms part of his rehabilitation into society,” said his lawyer, of the triathlon. Which might - maybe, just, possibly - pass as some sort of argument were Pistorius not still on probation until 2029. He was allegedly given special permission from his parole officer to attend the race in Durban, a 380-mile drive from his home in the capital, Pretoria.
Sorry, what?