Murder suspect Oscar Pistorius has not resumed training and is still highly traumatised following the tragic death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, according to his family.
Pistorius's family have released a statement after pictures of him jogging around a running track in Pretoria were published in a South African newspaper, raising the prospect of his return to competition again.
The statement said: 'Oscar is not back on any official training programme. This may change in future, but this will be a decision taken by Oscar, and Oscar alone.
'At this point Oscar is still in an extremely traumatized state and has made it clear to all of us that he is not able or willing to even contemplate this issue at this stage.
'We can confirm that we did have a meeting with Oscar yesterday where various family members and his trainer were present. We all encouraged him to get back onto the track to help stabilise him emotionally.
'Oscar has been out running on a number of isolated occasions in the days following the relaxation of his bail conditions, but each time has been very difficult and he has "struggled immensely" with the decision to even leave the house.
'As a family however we encourage him to start exercising as we believe it is a vital step in helping him deal with the trauma.'
Pistorius's agent Peet van Zyl also confirmed the athlete has no immediate plans to compete.
Van Zyl denied Pistorius has returned to training following the relaxation of his bail conditions, which now allow him to travel abroad in order to continue his athletics career, but confirmed he could resume soon.
'He was just having a jog around his track on his own accord. He wasn't back at training,' Van Zyl said
'That picture was taken by a schoolkid on March 24. Myself, Oscar and his coach had a meeting on Tuesday to discuss him getting him back to training.
'Based on that he told us he would like to get back in training and we can now look at formulating his training schedule.
'He is finding it very difficult and he is still coming to terms with the sad loss of Reeva.
That is why it will be better for him to be back at training. It will be great to get him back to the track and get some routine. That's why we are taking it day by day.
'I can't see there would be any people saying this is disrespectful. This is not disrespectful to Reeva or her family.
'This has been part of his life for so many years. If it makes things easier for him to work through it and get some sense back into his life, let him run and let him jog.
'He's a human being and that's maybe an outlet for him.'
'We haven't even spoken to him or contemplated him running in a competition,' Van Zyl added.
'He has got to be able to train first and be in some decent form as a world-class athlete before we would allow him to run in a competition.
'If he trains well and his mindset is right then by all means we will look at competitions and options. When that will be we don't know. It could happen quickly or it could take a year.
'But at the moment, there is no specific date when it comes to him returning to training.
'In the current state he is in he might get up tomorrow and give the coach a phone call and say he might want to train again. He then might not want to train for a few days.
'We are not going to force him. We are going to be guided by him.
credit to dailymail
'At this point Oscar is still in an extremely traumatized state and has made it clear to all of us that he is not able or willing to even contemplate this issue at this stage.
'We can confirm that we did have a meeting with Oscar yesterday where various family members and his trainer were present. We all encouraged him to get back onto the track to help stabilise him emotionally.
'Oscar has been out running on a number of isolated occasions in the days following the relaxation of his bail conditions, but each time has been very difficult and he has "struggled immensely" with the decision to even leave the house.
'As a family however we encourage him to start exercising as we believe it is a vital step in helping him deal with the trauma.'
Pistorius's agent Peet van Zyl also confirmed the athlete has no immediate plans to compete.
Van Zyl denied Pistorius has returned to training following the relaxation of his bail conditions, which now allow him to travel abroad in order to continue his athletics career, but confirmed he could resume soon.
'He was just having a jog around his track on his own accord. He wasn't back at training,' Van Zyl said
'That picture was taken by a schoolkid on March 24. Myself, Oscar and his coach had a meeting on Tuesday to discuss him getting him back to training.
'Based on that he told us he would like to get back in training and we can now look at formulating his training schedule.
'He is finding it very difficult and he is still coming to terms with the sad loss of Reeva.
That is why it will be better for him to be back at training. It will be great to get him back to the track and get some routine. That's why we are taking it day by day.
'I can't see there would be any people saying this is disrespectful. This is not disrespectful to Reeva or her family.
'This has been part of his life for so many years. If it makes things easier for him to work through it and get some sense back into his life, let him run and let him jog.
'We haven't even spoken to him or contemplated him running in a competition,' Van Zyl added.
'He has got to be able to train first and be in some decent form as a world-class athlete before we would allow him to run in a competition.
'If he trains well and his mindset is right then by all means we will look at competitions and options. When that will be we don't know. It could happen quickly or it could take a year.
'But at the moment, there is no specific date when it comes to him returning to training.
'In the current state he is in he might get up tomorrow and give the coach a phone call and say he might want to train again. He then might not want to train for a few days.
'We are not going to force him. We are going to be guided by him.
credit to dailymail
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