Icelandic prosthetics company Össur has decided not to renew its advertising contract with 27-year-old South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who uses blades manufactured by the company, in light of the charges he faces for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, bloomberg.com reports.
“It’s up to the courts of South Africa to rule in this matter,” Sveinn Sölvason, Össur’s chief financial officer, said. “We, as Össur, don’t have any official stand in this matter on whether the man is innocent or guilty. But we’re no longer sponsoring Oscar Pistorius.”
Pistorius, a six-time Paralympic gold medalist known as the blade runner because of the prosthetics he uses, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of intentionally killing Steenkamp. He says he thought she was an intruder when he shot her through the toilet door.
Other companies such as Nike Inc. and Luxottica Group SpA’s Oakley have also pulled their sponsorship deals with the athlete. Össur has also removed pictures of Pistorius from the walls of the building.
