According to foreign news reports, South African high jumper Jacques Freitag, who has been missing for a while, was found dead on July 2, local time in South Africa.
Local media reported that his body was found in the grass near a cemetery in western Pretoria with multiple gunshot wounds. He was found by a joint search team led by the police. The police have characterized the case as murder and are working hard to find the culprit.
Further reports say that on June 17, Fratag and an unidentified man left their mother's home and have since disappeared.
Freitag was born in 1982 and is 2.04 meters tall. In 1999 he won the World Junior Championships with a time of 2.16m, and in 2000 he won the World Junior Championships with 2.24m.
His greatest achievement came at the 2003 World Championships, when he won 2.35m over Sweden's Holm, who won the Athens Olympic title a year later. He became the first African athlete to win a world championship in athletics.
Despite his poor performance at the Athens Olympics, Freitag skipped 2.38m in 2005, setting the African record that still stands to this day.
Only 10 track and field athletes in the world have won the World Junior Championships, World Junior Championships and World Championships, including sprint superstar Usain Bolt. Due to the fact that the World Junior Championships will no longer be held after 2017. The record has been sealed forever.
When Freitag was an athlete, he broke the bridge of his nose due to road rage. Freitag, who suddenly lost his way after retiring from the army, was also arrested for drug use.
The official website of the World Athletics Federation wrote a special article to mourn Freitag. The article concludes with a note: Freitag struggled both inside and outside the Circle.