Former High Jump World Champion Jacques Freitag Found Dead in Pretoria
South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag, who went missing last month, local media reported on Wednesday. Freitag, 42, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, was reportedly shot.
Freitag's family declined to comment on the discovery. According to police, his body was found in a field near a cemetery in Pretoria. The body has yet to be formally identified by family members.
Freitag's sister, Chrissie Lewis, had appealed for help on social media to find him after he went missing in the predawn hours of June 17, leaving his mother's house. Lewis mentioned that Freitag had struggled with drug addiction following the end of his athletics career.
Freitag was one of the few athletes to have won world titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels.
