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Rediff.com  » Sports » Sports Shorts: Pistorius had no mental disorder at time of shooting girlfriend
This article was first published 10 years ago

Sports Shorts: Pistorius had no mental disorder at time of shooting girlfriend

Last updated on: June 30, 2014 14:53 IST

Image: Oscar Pistorius with his late girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
Photographs: Thembani Makhubele/Reuters

Oscar Pistorius, the South African track star on trial for murder for shooting his girlfriend, was not suffering from a mental condition that would have impaired his ability to distinguish between right and wrong at the time she was killed, a psychiatric report said on Monday.

Pistorius, an Olympic and Paralympic sprinter, has admitted to shooting dead his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, but maintains he mistook her for an intruder hiding in his toilet in an upmarket Pretoria suburb.

The trial, which began in March, took a month-long break to allow the 27-year-old to undergo a mental evaluation at Pretoria's Weskoppies hospital after a forensic psychologist brought by the defence testified that Pistorius had an anxiety disorder.

Judge Thokozile Masipa said it was important to find out whether or not the condition affected his criminal responsibility.

"At the time of the alleged offences, the accused did not suffer from a mental disorder or mental defect that affected his ability to distinguish between the rightful or wrongful nature of his deeds," Prosecutor Gerrie Nel read from a report submitted to the court.

Both Nel and defence lawyer Barry Roux accepted the findings of a panel of psychiatrists and psychologists after 30 days of evaluation.

During the trial, prosecutors have tried to paint a picture of a self-obsessed Pistorius who knowingly killed his law graduate girlfriend as she cowered behind a locked bathroom door.

Pistorius could face a life sentence if found guilty of the shooting on Valentine's Day last year.

Pistorius competed against able-bodied sprinters on carbon-fibre prosthetics, becoming one of the most recognised names in athletics. Besides a clutch of Paralympic medals, he reached the semi-finals of the 400m at the London 2012 Olympics.

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Pole vault 'queen' Isinbayeva gives birth to first child

Image: Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva
Photographs: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Double Olympic pole vault champion and 28-time world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva has given birth to a girl, the Russian Athletics Federation said in a statement on Sunday.

The baby is the 32-year-old's first child.

Isinbayeva decided to take a break from athletics after winning gold at the world championships in Moscow in August.

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Rose wins playoff for sixth PGA Tour win

Image: Justin Rose of England hugs his wife Kate Rose after winning the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club
Photographs: Rob Carr/Getty Images

Justin Rose emerged last man standing to win the $6.5 million Quicken Loans National at the first extra hole in a playoff at Congressional Country Club in Maryland on Sunday.

Britain's Rose sank a 15-foot bogey putt at the final regulation hole before parring it a few minutes later to edge unheralded American Shawn Stefani in Bethesda.

Rose and Stefani each shot 70 to finish regulation at four-under-par 280 on a course that played much tougher than when it hosted the U.S. Open three years ago, due to firm and fast conditions and plenty of lush rough.

"I think Congressional got its reputation back after the US Open," Rose, whose 72-hole score was 12 strokes higher than Rory McIlroy carded to win the Open, told CBS television.

Rose, 33, collected $1.170 million for his sixth PGA Tour victory, and his second in this event, with his previous triumph coming in 2010 at another classic course, Aronimink near Philadelphia.

He also has won six times internationally.

Rose stumbled at the end of regulation. He sank an eight-foot putt to save par at the 17th hole and then got up-and-down from 30 yards for bogey at the par-four 18th after pulling his second shot from the rough into the pond guarding the left side of the green.

But Stefani, ranked 246th in the world, found the same watery grave in the playoff and could not do better than double bogey, handing Rose the tournament.

Stefani earned a consolation prize of a berth in the July 17-20 British Open, as did fellow Americans Charley Hoffman, Ben Martin and Brendan Steele.

Overnight leader Patrick Reed's reputation as a good frontrunner took a battering when he shot 77 to finish four strokes behind.

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All-white dress code forces women players to play bra-less at Wimbledon

Image: Madison Keys of the United States during her Ladies' Singles third round match against Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan
Photographs: Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash has claimed that the clampdown on the all-white dress code has forced women players to play bra-less.

Cash slammed that tightened up rules on clothing as ''ridiculous'' and said that players have had to change their underwear when it was noticed it was not entirely white.

According to the Mirror, Cash said that some of the women players have been sent back to change their ''bras and tops'' because they had slight colour on them.

Cash added that he believed some of them did not have suitable sports bras and had to go without them.

The former champion also claimed that one of the players was called into the referees'' office because he had blue underwear that showed through when he got sweaty so he was told not to wear dark underwear. 

Tags: Pat Cash