Oscar Pistorius trial will not harm Paralympic sport, states Long

The South African sprinter was given a five-year prison sentence on Tuesday for the culpable homicide of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 following a lengthy, high-profile trial.

Pistorius - a double gold medal winner at London 2012 - could serve just 10 months of his custodial sentence before moving to house arrest and will not be able to compete at the 2016 Paralympic Games.

The International Paralympic Committee confirmed he will be unable to compete in sanctioned events until 2019 but retired Paralympic swimmer Long does not envisage a negative impact on Paralympic sports as a result.

"I think probably, in our realm, the trial has been a good thing for Paralympics," he told Perform.

"I know that sounds like an incredibly hard thing to say because at the core of this a young woman has lost her life and we shouldn't ever, ever forget that.

"But as I said, there are a lot people who don't know the word Paralympics, they don't know the word Paralympian, and the fact that this is in the news and that word is being said all the time and it's bringing it to be people's consciousness.

"I don't think the Paralympics is going to miss Oscar Pistorius. For all of the amazing things that he has achieved, I don't think it's going to miss him.

"The Paralympics is bigger than just one guy. Four years ago, the Paralympics was not bigger than just one guy, and this would have carried a lot more gravitas."

Pistorius will be 32 by the time he is eligible to compete in IPC-sanctioned events again and 33 at the time of the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Long, who won three Paralympic golds in Atlanta and Sydney, does not expect the South African to return to action, suggesting public reaction rather than fitness issues will likely prove problematic.

"I think from a physical point of view, he could retrain. And he still looks -- in court even -- physically strong as he ever did," Long continued.

"He is also still a shadow of his former self. And whether or not he can psychologically get himself to the point where he could cope with competing in front of all those people and all of them knowing what we all now know.

"Whether he could get to that point... it would be very, very difficult to see that as a possibility."