FORMER HIGH JUMP WORLD CHAMPION FOUND DEAD AT CEMETERY NEAR PRETORIA

• Jacques Freitag is believed to have disappeared with an unknown man in June

A former world high jump champion has been found dead with his body dumped in a field beside a cemetery in South Africa.

Jacques Freitag, 42, was reportedly found with gunshot wounds after going missing on June 17, having left his mother's house around midnight with an unknown man.

South African Police spokesman Brigadier Brenda Muridili confirmed that the former field eventer had been shut multiple times and that it was being treated as murder.

The body was found near the Zandfontein Cemetery in Pretoria West, local media reported on Wednesday, noting Freitag was 'troubled' before his disappearance.

Freitag is one of only ten athletes to win world championships at youth, junior and senior levels - but struggled with drug addiction after his athletics career ended, his sister Chrissie Lewis said.

Freitag, who took gold in the high jump at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, was last seen leaving his mother's house with an unknown man late on June 17 - less than a week after his 42nd birthday.

He was reportedly picked up shortly after midnight and dropped at a nearby area of Booysens by a mystery man who said that he had work for him.

His sister Chrissie Lewis had been leading a hunt for her 6ft 8in tall brother since he vanished, noting he was distinctive due to his height.

She told reporters Freitag had struggled with drug use after retiring, affecting their relationship.

'We weren't close at all over the last few years because of the drugs,' she told Rapport.

'I am a single mother and have had to look after my kids and protect them. 

'He has been on drugs for most of the time.' 

Freitag is a four-times South African high jump champion and he still holds the National Record after clearing 2.38m which he set in a competition in 2005.

In 2003 he cleared 2.35m at the Stade de France in Paris to win the Gold Medal at the IAAF World Championships and put his name on the world map.

He retired from sport in 2013 and was said to have in recent times been sleeping on the streets or sofa surfing having been unable to hold down a full-time job.

Freitag was one of only 10 athletes including Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown to win World Championships at all three levels.

He won the high jump at the 1999 Youth World Championships in Poland in 1999, the Junior WC's in Chile in 2000 and the Senior in France in 2003.

And the South African Golden Boy even went on to represent his nation at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. 

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2024-07-03T22:55:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd