(Bloomberg) — Ossur hf, the Icelandic company that manufactures the blades used by Oscar Pistorius, has ended its advertising contract with the paralympian as he is tried for the murder of his girlfriend.“It’s up to the courts of South Africa to rule in this matter,” Sveinn Solvason, Ossur’s chief financial officer, said today by phone. “We, as Ossur, 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 Ossur prosthetics he uses, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of intentionally killing model Reeva Steenkamp in his bathroom. The 27-year-old double-amputee says he thought she was an intruder when he shot her through a toilet cubicle. The prosecution alleges he shot Steenkamp three times after the couple had an argument. The charges have wrecked Pistorius’s career, and cost him sponsorship deals with Nike Inc. and Luxottica Group SpA’s Oakley. Ossur’s main office in the Icelandic capital has also removed all images of Pistorius that once adorned its walls. The athlete, who also faces three gun charges, has been free on 1 million rand ($93,000) bail. Judge Thokozile Masipa will give a final judgment after the trial, which is being broadcast live on radio and TV, because South Africa doesn’t have a jury system.
