South Africa’s high jump champion Jacques Freitag has passed away at the age of 42. The news came as a shock to the athletic community, who mourned the loss of a remarkable athlete. Freitag was found with multiple gunshot wounds after being missing for two weeks, and the police are investigating the case as murder.
Freitag was born in Warrenton in 1982 and grew up in Gauteng. He was introduced to athletics at a young age due to his mother Hendrina’s national high jump championship. Freitag’s first major victory came in 1999 when he won gold at the World U18 Championships in Bydgoszcz shortly after turning 17. He continued his success in 2000, winning 14 out of 15 competitions and taking gold at the World U20 Championships in Santiago de Chile. In 2001, he set an African U20 record of 2.31m and competed in the World Championships in Edmonton.
As a 19-year-old in early 2002, Freitag set an African record of 2.37m, and in 2003, he won gold at the World Championships in Paris with a jump of 2.35m. He became the first African man to win a world title in a field event. His compatriot Hestrie Cloete won the women’s event just six days later, creating a historic high jump double for South Africa. Freitag made his Olympic debut in