Jacques Freitag

Jacques Freitag (11 June 1982 – c. 1 July 2024) was a South African high jumper. Freitag is one of only eleven athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Armand Duplantis, Yelena Isinbayeva, Kirani James, Faith Kipyegon, Jana Pittman, Dani Samuels, and David Storl) to win World Championship titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels of an athletic event.

Jacques Freitag

Personal information
Nationality	South African
Born	(1982-06-11)11 June 1982 Warrenton, Cape Province, South Africa
Died	c. 1 July 2024(2024-07-01) (aged 42) Pretoria West, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Height	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)
Weight	83 kg (183 lb)
Sport
Country	South Africa
Sport	Track and field
Event	High jump
Achievements and titles
Personal best	High jump: 2.39 (Paris 2003)
Medal record Men's Athletics Representing  South Africa World Championships 2003 Paris High jump World Junior Championships 2000 Santiago High jump World Youth Championships 1999 Bydgoszcz High jump

Freitag grew up in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng (50 km east of Pretoria). His mother, Hendrina Pieters, was South African high jump champion in 1973 with a personal best of 1.74 metres.

Freitag was found shot, and murdered in July 2024, two weeks after going missing, at the age of 42.^[1][2][3]

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  South Africa
1999	World Youth Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	1st	2.16 m
	All-Africa Games	Johannesburg, South Africa	4th	2.20 m
2000	World Junior Championships	Santiago, Chile	1st	2.24 m
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	23rd (q)	2.15 m
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	1st	2.35 m
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	20th (q)	2.20 m
2005	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	18th (q)	2.20 m

Awards

• 2003 University of Pretoria Sportsman of the year.^[4]

Education

He was in Hoërskool Erasmus in Bronkhorstspruit, then he attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), located in Pretoria.

See also

• List of solved missing person cases