Pistorius is renowned worldwide for his achievements on the sports field, but his love life has been equally headline-worthy.

Pistorius, 26, was born without fibula and had both legs amputated below the knee before he was a year old.

He rose to fame in 2008 when he won a case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which cleared him to run against able-bodied athletes.

He was dubbed "Blade Runner" because of the futuristic metal legs he used to compete in races.

Pistorius was in police custody on Thursday following a shooting of a woman at his Pretoria home on Wednesday night. She was identified as girlfriend and FHM model Reeva Steenkamp.

Long-term relationship

Shiri Reouveni, of Steenkamp's PR agency, said they had been told it was Steenkamp who had been shot, but didnot want to say more.

Before Pistorius attained star status, he was attached to girlfriend Vicky Miles, who had known him since his school days. A photo of them in 2006 shows Miles on his lap, both of them beaming.

They split up in 2008 and re-united a while later. They apparently broke up again in early 2012.

In mid-2012, the New York Post suggested Pistorius had moved on from Miles and was dating Russian supermodel Anastassia Khozissova.

The leggy blonde was said to have met the athlete in New York and they were spotted holding hands in Chelsea.

Neither of their public relations teams confirmed the relationship.

Cape Town marketing student Samantha Taylor told the City Press newspaper in November 2012 that she had been dating Pistorius for a year-and-a-half.

She and Oscar were