Prison Sentence Seals Fall From Grace

Oscar Pistorius has been jailed for the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The athlete is going to prison for five years for the culpable homicide of the model, who was shot dead at the home they shared when Pistorius wrongly believed she was an intruder.

It marks a dramatic fall from grace for the athlete who overcame the amputation of his legs as a baby to become an Olympic icon and Paralympic champion.

He was born with fibular hemimelia - the absence of the fibula - and had his legs amputated between his knees and ankles at 11 months old.

But he did not let his disability hold him back, and at school he played rugby union, water polo and tennis, and took part in wrestling events.

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1. Gallery: South Africa's Golden Couple

   Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius faces a charge of murdering Reeva Steenkamp, his girlfriend, on Valentine's Day 2013

2. Pistorius is a six-time Paralympic gold medal winner who has held both the T44 100m and 200m world records

3. Miss Steenkamp was a model and entrepreneur who had said she was committed to empowering women

4. Pistorius poses with a South African national flag after winning gold in the men's 400m T44 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games on September 8, 2012

5. Pistorius wins the 200m T44 for Men at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games on September 21, 2004 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece

6. Pistorius poses with his artificial leg on Italian TV state channel Rai 1, on January 29, in Rome. He has a home in Italy for training during the European athletics season

7. Pistorius arriving at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, where he won an appeal on May 16, 2008 against a decision to ban him from able-bodied competition due to safety concerns

8. Pistorius waves as he celebrates winning gold in the final of the 100m T44 during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games on September 9, 2008

9. Miss Steenkamp was one of FHM magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World for two consecutive years

10. She was also an anti-bullying campaigner with the Spirit Day campaign - which is supported by figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Shaquille O'Neal

11. Two days after her death, South African television aired Tropika Island of Treasure a reality TV show staring Steenkamp, filmed in Jamaica

12. Pistorius poses with his medals during day eight of the IPC Athletics Championships at QEII Park on January 29, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand

13. Pistorius crosses the line to win gold in the men's 400m T44 final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games on September 8, 2012

14. Pistorius poses on the podium with his gold medal after winning the men's 400m T44 final at the London games

15. Pistorius meets fans and signs autographs during the South African Paralympic team arrival on September 11, 2012 in Johannesburg

16. Pistorius and Michael Phelps after they both lose their ball during the second round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on October 5, 2012 in Kingsbarns, Scotland

17. Pistorius holds his scroll after receiving his honorary doctorate from Strathclyde University, Glasgow, on November 12, 2012

It was a rugby injury that put him on the path to becoming one of sport's biggest names - a serious knee injury led to running being used as part of his rehabilitation in 2004.

That summer, he took part in the Athens Paralympics and won the 200m race in record time, and came third in the T44 100m event.

South African sports fans soon affectionately started calling him Blade Runner because of his advanced prosthetic legs.

Video: Pistorius Jailed For Five Years

He enjoyed more success at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m races.

But it was at the 2012 Olympics in London that he made his big breakthrough, becoming the first amputee runner to compete in the main event.

He made it to the semi-final of the 400m race, where he finished last with a time of 46.54 seconds.

Video: What Would Oscar Have Seen?

He also took part in the 4 x 400m relay race, and was part of the team that made it to the final. He was chosen to carry the South African flag for the closing ceremony.

His trophy cabinet contains 23 gold medals, six silvers and one bronze.

But in the wake of the judge's ruling in Pretoria, much uncertainty is now hanging over his future in sport. 

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1. Gallery: Pistorius: Death, Despair And Drama

   Hooded and head down, Paralympic and Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius leaves a police station in Pretoria hours after he shot dead his model girlfriend in the bathroom of his home

2. Before Valentine's Day 2013, this is how the couple were known - handsome, glamorous and seemingly happy

3. A day after shooting Reeva, he was taken to court for a lengthy bail hearing during which he denied murdering his girlfriend. He was eventually granted conditional bail

4. Reeva's Valentine's card to Oscar was later shown in court. She had left it out for him on the night of her death, along with some pictures of the couple and one of her she'd had taken specially as a gift

5. Five days after her death, Reeva's funeral was held in her home town of Port Elizabeth

6. Reeva's family and friends comforted each other after her coffin was carried into a crematorium. After the ceremony, her brother Adam said: "There's a space missing inside all the people that she knew that can't be filled again. We will miss her."

7. Judge Thokozile Masipa presided over the trial. It should have run for three weeks, but lasted at least five months

8. Reeva's mother June Steenkamp was in court throughout proceedings, sat just feet away from the man who killed her daughter and in the same row as members of his family. Within weeks of Reeva's killing, Mrs Steenkamp said: "I don't hate Oscar. I've forgiven him. I have to, that's my religion. But I am determined to face him and reclaim my daughter."

9. Gerrie Nel, a seasoned prosecutor, is known in South African legal circles as "the pitbull". He led the prosecution against Pistorius, claiming the defence was inconsistent

10. The prosecution tried to prove the couple had problems - that Pistorius was an angry and controlling boyfriend. This email was among the evidence they used to make their point, along with a series of texts. The defence said it simply showed they were a normal couple, with normal ups and downs in their relationship

11. Barry Roux defended Pistorius. He made his presence felt at the very start of proceedings by totally dismissing a senior police officer's case, leaving the man offering an embarrassing admission that his case was weak. "I don't have any facts," said Hilton Botha. Mr Roux has since said his performance was "nothing special".

12. Sky News uncovered this CCTV image of the couple just a few days before the shooting. They were in a shop in Pretoria, kissing and laughing

13. The CCTV was among the final images taken of Reeva

14. The world gasped at pictures of the scene of the shooting obtained by Sky's Alex Crawford

15. At one point in the trial, as lawyers flicked through a series of pictures on a large screen in court, they accidentally showed a picture of Reeva's body without warning. Friends of Reeva ran from the courtroom in tears at the violent image

16. On another occasion, the prosecution taunted Pistorius, telling him to look at the image and take responsibility. Pistorius sobbed back: "As I picked Reeva up, my fingers touched her head. I don't have to look at a picture. I remember. I was there."

17. Much of the case centered on whether Pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs at the time of the shooting. Did the bullet holes in the bathroom door prove that he was wearing them, and therefore able to move faster and with more ease? Or was he on his stumps, at a lower height and possibly feeling more threatened?

18. Sitting almost within touching distance throughout the trial, Reeva's mother and Pistorius' sister Aimee had been seen speaking to each other at times

19. The defendant retched and vomited more than once. At one point, Pistorius collapsed in the dock and his psychologist was seen trying to calm him by stroking his face

20. The trial was adjourned for a psychiatric evaluation of Pistorius. Around this time the defendant had a night out and got involved in an altercation, making headlines again

21. Following the row, Pistorius tweeted some cryptic messages. This was one

22. Lawyers went step-by-step through how Pistorius would have got out of bed in the night, walked or run down the corridor shouting at whoever was locked in the toilet, shot through the door and then, on realising it was Reeva inside, bashed down the door using a cricket bat

23. After the shooting, the door was removed from Pistorius' house and was stored in a police HQ office instead of a contamination-free zone

24. Footage emerged of Pistorius recreating the fateful night in a private attempt to make his case clear. Australia's Channel 7 got hold of the video, which described events in graphic detail, and released it while the trial was ongoing

25. Friends and family of Reeva gave various interviews to the media, talking about how the model with a law degree was also someone who cared deeply about others and wanted to help people. "She was more than just a pretty face," one said

26. The world's focus once again closed in on the court in Pretoria when the time came for Judge Thokozile Masipa to give her verdict

27. The runner's brother made it to court for the verdicts, coming out of hospital in a wheelchair. He is recovering from a head-on car crash that happened on 1 August

28. As the judge read her findings to the court on the first day of her verdict delivery, Pistorius sat in the dock and sobbed, gulping back air as he struggled not to cry out loud

29. Reeva's father Barry Steenkamp did not attend the first few weeks of the trial, but he sat through the end and closely watched the man who killed his daughter as the verdict was read out

30. He was found not guilty of premeditated murder on Thursday, 11 September 11, 2014. And the weight of the case took so long for the judge to get through that it was not until the next morning that he was told to stand to hear the verdict on culpable homicide. He stood silently, breathing deeply

31. At the end of it all, Oscar Pistorius, world-famous athlete, was found guilty of culpable homicide. A similar charge to manslaughter, it means he did shoot at someone, but the judge said he might not have known it was Reeva behind the toilet door - and she has now sentenced him to five years in prison for the killing

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1. Gallery: Oscar Pistorius At Gun Range

   Sky News has obtained images of Oscar Pistorius at a shooting range, including one which shows him firing the pistol he used when he shot his girlfriend.

2. The pictures were taken months before Reeva Steenkamp's death on February 14, 2013.

3. Pistorius, who is awaiting trial, denies murdering Ms Steenkamp and says he shot her after mistaking her for a burglar.

4. In one of the pictures from the gun range, the athlete is seen firing at a water melon.

5. The fruit explodes as Pistorius hits it right in the centre. Click through for more pictures.

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