OSCAR Pistorius overcame considerable obstacles and fought legal battles to compete alongside able-bodied runners.

But none of the hurdles he faced could have prepared the man known as ‘Blade Runner’ for the intense public scrutiny that followed after he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year.

Just months before that fateful night, the 27-year-old made history at London 2012 by becoming the first amputee athlete to take part in the Olympics – the crowning glory in a remarkable career that saw him win fans all over the world.

Later, in September of that year he would provide what was – with hindsight – a prophetic insight into both his ego and his troubled mind when he erupted in anger after being surprisingly beaten in the 200m Paralympic final by Brazilian Alan Oliveira.

Pistorius was born in Pretoria in 1986 without a fibula in both legs. When he was 11-months old his parents decided to have his legs amputated below the knee. His competitive spirit was clear from an early age as he played rugby, water polo and tennis at school.

He turned to athletics at the age of 17 after shattering his knee playing rugby. It was soon after that he began wearing the blades that made him an icon and earned him his moniker.

After two months of training he set a new world record of 11.51 seconds in the 100m at an open competition at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria. A gold medal in the 200m at the Paralympic Games in Athens quickly followed, along with a new world record.

Pistorius set his sights on competing against able-bodied athletes and in 2005 finished sixth in the 400m at an event in South Africa. He suffered a setback in his bid to appear in the Olympics in 2008 when the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that his prosthetic legs were ineligible for use in competitions conducted under its rules, including the Games. But he appealed and the Court of Arbitration for Sport reversed the ban the following May.

Four years later he was named in the South African team for the London 2012 Olympic Games. After getting to the semi-finals of the 400m individual event, he was part of the South Africa team which finished eighth in the 4x400m relay final.

Those heady days could not have seemed further away when Pistorius was brought before a court in Pretoria to face trial for murder in front of a global television audience.

Pistorius sat listening as the prosecution pored over his alleged previous involvement with guns, his relationship with Ms Steenkamp and the night of her death. He vomited repeatedly in the dock as he heard graphic details of the injuries she sustained.

During his own testimony, the star broke down as he described the aftermath of the shooting. He insisted he was "terrified'' that the person he fired at in the bathroom of his luxury home was an intruder. Pistorius revealed he was taking antidepressants and had problems sleeping following the shooting and told how he had once climbed into a cupboard and called his sister after waking in a panic.

The trial also heard of the ``security concerns'' that his family faced as he grew up, with Pistorius's mother said to have slept with a gun under her pillow amid numerous break-ins. Pistorius described more recent incidents, including one when he said he was followed into his gated estate and another when he was attacked at a party.

His apparent paranoia was such that he went into ‘combat’ mode at the sound of a tumble drier at his home. He was also responsible for shooting an air rifle while dining out at a packed restaurant.

As the trial proceeded, the athlete's mental health came under scrutiny and the trial judge adjourned for several weeks for him to undergo psychiatric tests. The case – which to those watching from abroad seemed to progress at a snail’s pace - resumed after experts concluded that Pistorius was not suffering from a mental illness when he shot dead Ms Steenkamp.

The defence later cited a psychologist's report which found that the defendant was traumatised and could be a suicide risk unless he received ongoing mental health care.

Yesterday after previously being convicted of the lesser charge of culpable homicide – the equivalent of manslaughter - and jailed for five years, Oscar Pistorius began a new, unwanted chapter in his life. Following his sentencing he was driven to Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru prison where he will be housed in the hospital wing.

His consolation is that he is expected to serve only about 10 months of his jail term with the remainder being under house arrest. Nonetheless it has been a long, hard fall from grace from which he may never recover.