Jacques Freitag, holder of the African record for men’s high jump (7 feet 8 inches), has tragically passed away in an unfortunate accident at the age of 42.
Citing South African media reports on Wednesday, the World Athletics Association (WA) announced, “Freitag was unfortunately found dead two weeks after he went missing. It has been confirmed that he suffered multiple gunshot wounds.”
South African media outlet Network24 reported, “Freitag was last seen leaving his home with an unidentified man on the 17th of last month,” adding, “His body was found near a cemetery in Pretoria West, two weeks after he was reported missing.”
The police are currently investigating this case as a homicide.
Freitag was a representative high jumper for South Africa. He gained attention by winning the 1999 Under-18 World Championships (7 feet 1 inch), the 2000 Under-20 World Championships (7 feet 4 inches), and the 2003 World Championship (7 feet 8 inches).
At 19, in 2002, he set an African record of 7 feet 9 inches and renewed it from 0.4 inches to 7 feet 10 inches in 2005.
Freitag retired in 2013, but his record remains the highest in Africa.
