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Before
Oscar Pistorius was accused of murdering
Reeva Steenkamp on Feb. 14, 2014, he was once honored as someone who "touched the lives of many others around the world." Click through to find out how an Olympic hero hit a downward spiral toward a criminal life.
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The 29-year-old was raised in what was then Transvaal Province (now Gauteng Province) in South Africa, where he was born without fibulas in both of his legs. By the time he turned 11 months old, both of his legs were amputated below the knees.
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Despite his disability, Oscar grew up playing a handful of sports, where he would soon discover his passion for running in 2004. He would soon become known as the "Blade Runner" and "the fastest man on no legs."
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By 2005, he was competing and setting records in the able-bodied South African Championships and later succeed in the Paralympic World Cup the same year.
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By 2006, he won a gold medal in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events at the IPC Athletics World Championships. Then, in 2007, he broke a disability sports world record in the 400-meter dash. Oscar was honored for outstanding courage and achievement and received the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award in 2007.
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The following year in 2008, he ranked in Time magazine's annual list as one of the most influential people in the world. The achievement even went as far to place him in the "heroes and pioneers" section, where he would be placed again in 2012. Oscar's dream was ultimately to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, but wasn't selected by the South African Olympic Committee.
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Oscar was airlifted to a nearby hospital after he suffered broken facial bones from being thrown from a boat in 2009. Doctors believed his fitness would be jeopardized, forcing him to miss his running routine for the rest of the year, but completely healed in the end.
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By 2011, Oscar was rejected to run in the World Championships in South Korea, which he tweeted about: "Haven't been included in the final. Pretty gutted. Well done to the SA 4x400m team. Was really hard watching, knowing I deserved to be part of it."
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Oscar soon would become the first amputee to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games, but his team was quickly eliminated when his teammate fell during a relay before ever reaching Oscar to hand off the wand. However, Oscar was still chosen to carry the South African flag at the closing ceremony.
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He would later dip in the stardom on the screen, appearing on the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars in Rome, and in 2012, making an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
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But on Valentine's day in 2013, his career would end. Oscar was blamed for shooting and killing girlfriend Reeva in his home in Pretoria. In court,
he admitted to causing her death, but claimed he made a mistake and thought she was an intruder.
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