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Oscar Pistorius made history when he joined the men's 400m heats as the first amputee to take part in an Olympics track event.

South Africans woke up on Thursday morning to the news that Paralympic and Olympic champion Oscar Pistorius has been remanded in police custody for the shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp, 30, in his home in Pretoria in the early hours of the morning.

Media reports allege that Pistorius accidentally shot Steenkamp, his model girlfriend, and there is speculation that he mistook her for an intruder.

"Paramedics declared the woman dead on the scene and police proceeded with their investigation," said South African Police Service spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Katlego Mogale.

"The woman sustained wounds to her head and upper body."

Police confirmed that a 9mm pistol was recovered from the scene and that a 26- year-old male was taken into custody.

"I can confirm that a 26-year-old suspect will be appearing in the Pretoria MagistrateÂ’s Court this afternoon," Mogale said.

Police declined to confirm the identity of the man in custody but confirmed that a woman was fatally wounded in a shooting at Pistorius's house.

Pistorius, 26, was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics. He is known as the Blade Runner because of the ground-breaking prosthetics he uses for racing.

He made history at the London 2012 Olympics when he became the first amputee sprinter to compete in the able-bodied Games, running in the 400m and 4x400m relay.

The Johannesburg-born athlete, who was born without fibulas in his legs and had the limbs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, had to win a legal battle over his blades with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2008 for the right to compete in able-bodied competition.