2003 World High Jump Champion Jacques Freitag Dies Mysteriously in Pretoria, South Africa

Jacques Freitag, a 42-year-old South African athlete and 2003 world high jump gold medallist, was tragically discovered with gunshot wounds near a cemetery in Pretoria, South Africa. He had been reported missing two weeks prior and was last seen leaving his mother’s house with an unknown man at around 1am on June 17.

Freitag had an impressive athletic career, winning the world under-18 title in 1999 and world under-20 gold in 2000 before claiming the global gold in high jump in 2003 with a height of 2.35m, surpassing athletes from Sweden and Canada. During his career, his best leap was recorded at 2.38m in 2005.

The case is being treated as murder by the police, but no arrests have been made yet. Freitag’s untimely death has shocked the athletics community and investigations into the circumstances surrounding his passing are ongoing.