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Oscar Pistorius sentence brings quick reaction from sports officials

South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius is led from a Pretoria courtroom to a holding cell after being sentenced Oct. 21 in the shooting death of his girlfriend.

South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius is led from a Pretoria courtroom to a holding cell after being sentenced Oct. 21 in the shooting death of his girlfriend.

(Themba Hadebe / AFP/Getty Images)
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No matter how Oscar Pistorius ends up serving his five-year sentence for killing Reeva Steenkamp, Paralympic officials say he will remain ineligible to compete for the duration, which rules him out of the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In September, a South African judge found Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide for shooting Steenkamp, his girlfriend, multiple times through the door of a toilet cubicle in his home in 2013.

On Tuesday, he was sentenced to five years behind bars, but could be released from prison in less than an year to serve the remainder of his time under house arrest.

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The 27-year-old sprinter made history in 2012 as the first double-amputee to compete at the Olympics and Paralympics.

Though the International Paralympic Committee immediately ruled him ineligible, the International Olympic Committee declined to make any statement about his competition status.

“This is a human tragedy for the family of Reeva Steenkamp and also for Oscar Pistorius,” an IOC spokesman said. “We hope very much that time will bring comfort to all those concerned but at this stage we have no further comment to make.

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