Tragic end for former high jump champion Jacques Freitag, who went missing last month

Once an athlete who promised to rewrite the sports history books on behalf of South Africa, former South African high jump star Jacques Freitag was found shot dead near Zandfontein Cemetery in Pretoria a few days ago.

The retired athlete had been missing for two weeks before his bullet-riddled body was discovered, with the SAPS registering a murder docket after his body was discovered, having been reported missing last month. His family has since positively identified him.

“On 5 March 2005, I remember he cleared 2.38m. That was a national record. He was a four-time SA champ in high jump. In 2000, he won gold at the World Junior Champs that were held in Santiago, Chile,” Athletics South Africa commission chairperson Hendrick Mokganyetsi said, as per Eyewitness News.

“(In 2003) he won the gold medal at the world champs in Paris with a jump of 2.35m. This victory made him the first South African to win a gold in high jump at the world champs.”

The supremely talented Freitag struggled to build on this success and would find himself heavily plagued by drug addiction after officially ending his athletics career in 2013.

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Born in the Northern Cape on 11 June 1982, the prodigy grew up in Gauteng and after honing his athletic skills from a young age, leapt into South African history by joining an exclusive club of athletes who have won individual world titles at the U-18, U-20 and senior level.

This is a list he occupies with the likes of Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown, plus Kenyan middle-distance runner Faith Kipyegon – among others.  

In early 2002, still aged just 19, he set an African record of 2.37m. Success continued in 2003 as he struck gold at the World Championships in Paris with a clearance of 2.35m, becoming the first African man to win a world title in a field event. Just six days later, his compatriot Hestrie Cloete won the women’s event, marking a memorable high jump double for South Africa.

Despite reaching these historic highs, he struggled when he made his Olympic Games debut at the Athens-hosted tournament in 2004. He finished a lowly 20th after clearing 2.20m.

Nonetheless, his confidence was not shattered by this disappointment as he bounced back the following year to set a new South African record of 2.38m. It is a mark that still stands – despite his plummet from global stardom. DM

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