The stunning blonde keeping Oscar Pistorius focused on athletics as he faces murder trial over girlfriend's death

Training partner: Claudia Viljoen regularly visits Oscar Pistorius for workouts to keep him focused on athletics

As Oscar Pistorius awaits his trial for the killing of his lover, Reeva Steenkamp, another attractive young blonde is constantly at his side.
But there’s no danger of athlete Claudia Viljoen stepping into tragic model Miss Steenkamp’s shoes – her role with the Paralympic gold medallist known as the ‘Bladerunner’ is very different.
Her job as double amputee sprinter Pistorius’s training partner is to keep his mind focused on athletics and not on the case due to be heard in August, following his shooting of 29-year-old Reeva on Valentine’s Day.
Viljoen, 24, a former international 100m and 200m hurdler, is a regular visitor to the Pretoria home of Pistorius’s uncle Arnold, where a gym has been built in the pool house.
The pair train together on a treadmill, bicycle and weights equipment each day, but Viljoen, an old friend of 26-year-old Pistorius, has told friends she is reporting back regularly to his coach, Ampie Louw, on the Paralympian’s state of mind as he tries to rebuild his shattered life.
‘Claudia trains with Oscar in the morning, often together with his uncle Arnold’s family,’ said a source close to the Pistorius family. ‘She’s a very good friend of Oscar.’
Viljoen, who describes herself as ‘a 100m hurdler and sports scientist’, is engaged to business consultant James Heunis, 30.
She was in South Africa’s preparation squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but suddenly dropped out, apparently because of personal issues.
Aside from her athletics, she works for her family’s plant hire business.
Her looks earned her a place in the Athletics South Africa 2011 calendar as Miss July, where she appeared in a carefully-posed shot wearing only briefs and a medal.

Yesterday her father, Barend Viljoen, told The Mail on Sunday that the Pistorius family were closing ranks over Oscar.

Lovers: The Olympic sprinter with his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp two weeks before her death

Charge: Pistorius has appeared in court charged with his girlfriend's murder and will go on trial later this year

He said: ‘They know what they are doing. They have brought in professional people to help. We would prefer to keep everything private.’
Miss Steenkamp’s mother, June, recently said she was shocked to learn her daughter was in pain after she was shot the first time while in the bathroom during the Valentine’s Day tragedy.
Pistorius then fired two more bullets into the room, one of which killed her.

Pistorius told the court at his bail hearing in April that he feared a burglar had broken into his apartment.
He said he grabbed his gun from the table closest to Miss Steenkamp’s side of the bed and began firing.
Arnold Pistorius said last week that his nephew stayed inside most of the time, surrounded by pictures of Miss Steenkamp.
‘He’s got photos in his room, he’s got photos all over the place,’ he said. ‘What can you say if the person you love the most dies and you were the instrument – it’s unthinkable.’

Pictured: A life full of hope brutally cut short

These poignant pictures of a young Reeva Steenkamp offer a rare glimpse into a beautiful life that ended far too early.
In the first photograph, below left, Reeva, aged four, is seen with a parcel in the garden of her grandparents’ house at Christmas in Cape Town in 1987.

Young beauty: Reeva Steenkamp aged four (left) and in an early modelling shot aged 19 (right)

Star: Reeva Steenkamp was a model and television presenter

The second – an early modelling shot – shows her as a raven-haired 19-year-old, poised and serene.
Reeva went on to work as a model and television presenter, but she had other aspirations before her life was brutally cut short.
She had already worked as a ‘paralegal’ executive and had hoped to become a qualified legal advocate by the age of 30.
By grim coincidence, Pistorius will appear in court on August 19, which would have been her 30th birthday.

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