Two-time Paralympic silver medallist Libby Clegg believes Oscar Pistorius' absence from the sport is a difficult void to fill.

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court in South Africa denied Pistorius the right to appeal his conviction for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp.

Prior to his conviction, Pistorius won six Paralympic gold medals and became the first amputee runner to compete in an Olympic Games - featuring at London 2012, where he finished eighth in his 400 metres semi-final.

Clegg, who took Olympic silver in the 100m in Beijing and London, says Pistorius did a huge amount for the profile of Paralympic athletes.

"For me, I think the situation with Oscar Pistorius is really sad and I just think the situation is quite devastating really," she told Omnisport.

"I don't think it'll be the same without him. So regardless of what you think about Oscar Pistorius, for me he completely exposed Paralympic sport, obviously by competing as an able-bodied athlete.

"He really raised the profile [of Paralympic sport] and got people interested, it looks really cool running on the blades.

"I think it will be difficult for someone to step into his shoes because he was such a big name, a lot of people thought he was British because we used to talk about him so much.

"For me it's a great sadness that he's not there and there's not really anyone now that's able to step into his shoes."