Pretoria, 5 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Former track star Oscar Pistorius was released from prison on parole, South Africa's Department of Corrections said on Friday, almost 11 years after the murder of his then-girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The 37-year-old was now a parolee and "at home," the authority said in a brief statement.

The Olympic and Paralympic athlete killed the 29-year-old Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, with four shots through the bathroom door of his villa in Pretoria on Valentine's Day night in 2013.

The sprint star, who has been a double-amputee since infancy, was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison following a trial that riveted South Africa and was followed closely around the world.

During the trial, Pistorius testified that he had fired several times because he had mistaken his girlfriend for a burglar. But the court ultimately rejected his evidence and convicted him of murder.

Last November, after nearly nine years behind bars at a prison near Pretoria, a panel granted him release on parole after determining he had completed the minimum detention requirement under South African law.

His probation will last five years and comes with strict supervision by law enforcement authorities.

At the time of the killing, Pistorius was at the peak of his career.

The "Blade Runner," as he was known, won six gold medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games on custom-made carbon prostheses.

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