‘Blade Runner’ hero

‘Blade Runner’ hero no more? 

The murder trial of South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has sparked international controversy. Pistorius, an Olympic athlete nicknamed the “blade runner” for his artificial limbs, has been charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day last year.  

Controversies surrounding the trial range from incriminating witness testimony to graphic forensic evidence taken from the crime scene. These only add to Pistorius’s tarnished reputation and invoke an image of an athletic and statuesque hero, fallen from grace.  

—Janeke Thumbran, writer, March 13

Photo credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images, npr.org

News source:David Smith. “Oscar Pistorius: a runaway interpreter, then the trial of the century begins.” The Guardian, March 3, 2014.