Oscar Pistorius' agent to discuss running future with athlete in prison

Johannesburg: Jailed Paralympics runner Oscar Pistorius' agent has revealed that he is looking forward to a meeting with the double-amputee athlete in prison in the next few days to discuss his running future.

South Africa's Olympic committee said that Pistorius was ineligible to compete for the length of his five-year prison sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Agent Peet van Zyl has said that lawyers would meet with Pistorius in prison on Friday, after which it would become clearer when Van Zyl and Pistorius' long-time track coach, Ampie Louw, can talk to him about his career, Sport24 reported.

Van Zyl said that they would like to see the young man, adding that no decision had been made or discussions held over the multiple Paralympics champion's track career because he was taken straight to prison following his sentencing on Tuesday.

Also on Thursday, South African Olympic committee chief executive Tubby Reddy said that Pistorius could not compete for the full duration of his sentence under the body's rules, even if he was released from jail early to go under house arrest.

Pistorius' sentence allows for him to be released from prison after serving one-sixth of his term, or 10 months, to serve the remainder under correctional supervision, which involves house arrest.

The South African Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation decision matches the International Paralympic Committee, which said that Pistorius couldn't compete in its events while he was serving his sentence, no matter where he was serving it.

The International Olympic Committee and the IAAF, which controls able-bodied athletics events, have declined to comment on Pistorius' case.

Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated as a baby, was one of the world's most recognizable and celebrated athletes when he competed on his carbon-fibre running blades. He made history by becoming the first amputee athlete to run at the able-bodied world championships in 2011 and the Olympics a year later.

Pistorius was convicted last month of culpable homicide, which is comparable to manslaughter, for shooting Steenkamp multiple times at his home in the pre-dawn hours of 14 February 2013. He was acquitted of murder, but still sent him to prison for acting negligently in his girlfriend's death, the report added.