Former high jump world champion Freitag found dead
Jacques Freitag was an extremely talented High Jumper and became World Champion early in his career. However, he could not build on his quick successes. He first struggled with injury problems and then with drug issues. Now he has been found dead.
The former High Jump World Champion Jacques Freitag from South Africa has been found dead in his hometown. Investigations are ongoing. According to Reuters news agency, citing South African media, the former athlete was found lifeless and with gunshot wounds.
As reported by the portal Netwerk24, Freitag was discovered near a cemetery in Pretoria West. The police are treating it as a murder and have initiated corresponding investigations. The 42-year-old was previously reported missing. He was last seen alive in the late evening of June 17, leaving his mother's house with an unknown man.
The career of the South African had once started off steeply. Freitag celebrated great successes at the youth and junior levels. In 1999, he won the Gold Medal at the U18 World Championships in Poland. A year later, at the U20 World Championships in Chile, he repeated the feat. The crowning achievement of his career was his triumph at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, where he jumped 2.35 meters to win the Gold Medal. His personal best was set in Oudshoorn, Netherlands, in 2005, at 2.38 meters. However, greater successes eluded him thereafter.
At the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005, he failed to progress beyond the qualification round, unable to defend his title. He was repeatedly plagued by knee problems. In 2013, he then retired from professional competition. South African media report that he struggled with drug problems in the following years. His sister stated in an interview that Freitag spent "most of his time on drugs." She made an appeal to the public when Freitag was still reported missing. Shortly thereafter, his lifeless body was found.
- Despite his triumph at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, where he won the Gold Medal in High Jump, Jacques Freitag from South Africa struggled with drug issues in the subsequent years.
- The South African city of Pretoria West is where the murder investigation into the death of the former High Jump World Champion Jacques Freitag is currently taking place.
- Despite his early successes in sport, including winning Gold at the U18 and U20 World Championships in Athletics, Jacques Freitag's career was marred by injury problems and drug issues before his untimely death.
