London: The International Paralympic Committee has offered its “deepest condolences to all families involved” following Oscar Pistorius’ arrest for allegedly shooting dead his girlfriend, as fellow athletes reacted in shock at the news.
Described by Lord Coe before the London Olympics as a “real inspiration to people around the world”, Pistorius, known as the Blade Runner due to the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he uses to race, became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics and Paralympics last summer.
A statement from the International Paralympic Committee said: “Following the news of the alleged shooting incident involving South African athlete Oscar Pistorius this morning, the International Paralympic Committee will not be passing any comment on the case at this time.
“This is a police matter, with a formal investigation currently underway. Therefore it would be inappropriate for the IPC to comment on this incident until the official police process has concluded. The IPC would like to offer its deepest sympathy and condolences to all families involved in this case.”
Athletes on Twitter reacted with shock. Great Britain’s gold medal-winning heptathlete Jessica Ennis said: “Woken up to the horrendous news about Oscar Pistorius mistakenly shooting his girlfriend. What an awful tragedy.”
Britain’s Paralympic 100m gold medallist, Jonnie Peacock, simply said: “can not believe it...”, while the former 400m sprinter Iwan Thomas wrote: “I am in total shock to hear the news about athlete and friend Oscar, my thoughts are with him and all involved. That’s all I have to say.”
Katharine Merry, who won bronze at 400m at the Sydney Olympics, described Pistorius as: “One of the nicest guys, true gent...omg...in shock for oscar and this situation. Imagine, just imagine...” while the British triple jumper Phillips Idowu added: “Waking up to extremely sad news about Oscar Pistorius mistakenly shooting his girlfriend. Terrible tragedy, thoughts & prayers with you.”
— Guardian News and Media 2013
