Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison on January 5 2024, almost 11 years after he murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. Pistorius, 37, was today sentenced to 13 years in prison by a South African court after a long and stormy trial in 2016 .

The mother of the friend who was shot, June Steenkamp, ​​did not oppose parole. This fulfills the main requirement. The commission also assessed Pistorius’ behavior in prison and the risk he posed to the public.

June Steenkamp chose not to attend the hearing, but in a letter sent to the commission, she questioned whether Pistorius’ previous outbursts were actually dealt with in prison. He added at the same time that he would fear for the safety of any woman who came into contact with him. Reeva’s father, Barry, died earlier this year.

Oscar Pistorius, who won several Paralympic gold medals and was able to compete in the Olympics among able-bodied athletes, shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp 11 years ago at his home in Pretoria. He fired several shots at her through the bathroom door. He admitted that he was wrong, thinking there was a robber in the house.

The trial took a long time, the athlete was initially found guilty only of the crime of murder, but finally of manslaughter, and in 2016 he was imprisoned.

It was one of the most watched trials involving an athlete in history.

Twenty-nine-year-old law graduate Reeva Steenkamp is a successful model. The High Court ruled that Pistorius’ accounts of the alleged “Valentine’s Day” night varied widely and that he fired without any rational and genuine fear that his life was in danger. The witness also confirmed that there was screaming and arguing from inside the apartment that night. Most likely the athlete killed his girlfriend out of anger. It was the culmination of an earlier heated argument, when Reeva threatened to leave him.

Pistorius’ first parole hearing in March collapsed when authorities said he had not completed the minimum prison term required for release. However, last month the Constitutional Court admitted this was a mistake.

Pistorius was disabled from an early age. Doctors had to amputate his underdeveloped leg below the knee when he was less than a year old. However, he used prosthetics to exercise from a young age and eventually became a world-famous athlete known as the “Blade Runner”.

At the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics, he won four gold medals and one bronze in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. The 400 is one of his great disciplines and he competes against able-bodied athletes. In 2011 in Tegu, he won silver in the 4×400 meter relay with the South African team. And he fought for a medal against non-disabled opponents at the London Olympics in 2012.

His personal record is honorable. 10.91 seconds for 100 meters, 21.30 seconds for 200 meters, even 45.07 seconds for 400 meters.