Was Jacques Freitag, the world high jump champion, murdered?

Jacques Freitag, the high jump world champion from Paris 2003, was discovered shot last Tuesday near a cemetery in Pretoria, South Africa. The world high jump gold medallist had been missing for a couple of weeks after visiting his mother’s home in Bronkhorstpruit a few days after his birthday. His blood-soaked body, with multiple bullet wounds, was tragically found on Tuesday afternoon beside Zandfontein Cemetery in Pretoria West. Reports suggested that the retired athlete, who was once a golden boy of South African sport, was struggling with unemployment, recreational drug use, and general misfortune.

The Gauteng-born former athlete retired at the age of 42. He has been involved in sports since childhood, mainly athletics. Some of his notable achievements include winning the high jump world championship in Paris in 2003, becoming the under-20 world champion in Santiago de Chile in 2000, winning the under-18 championship in Poland in 1999, securing victory in the Golden League in Rome in 2003, and achieving his personal best in 2005, which still stands as the African continental high jump record at 2.38 meters.

The world athletics community was shocked to hear about the death of Freitag. Initially, it was thought to be related to a drug issue, which Freitag had been associated with in the past. However, it was later discovered that he had gunshot wounds, leading authorities to treat his death as a murder. A spokesperson for the South African Police confirmed that Freitag had been tragically shot multiple times, and the case is currently under investigation.