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

Early life and education

Freitag was born to police officers Hendrina Pieters and Jan Lewis. His parents divorced during childhood and his father later died by suicide.^[1] His mother, Hendrina Pieters, was South African high jump champion in 1973 with a personal best of 1.74 metres. He has an older sister, Chrissie.^[2] He was in Hoërskool Erasmus in Bronkhorstspruit, then he attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, located in Pretoria. He won the 2003 University of Pretoria Sportsman of the year.^[3]

Later life and murder

Frietag went missing on June 17, 2024 and on July 1, his body was found with three gunshot wounds and a broken arm in a field in Pretoria. Rudolph Lubbe and Shantellè Oosthuizen were arrested on July 16 for suspected involvement in Freitag’s murder. Lubbe was accused of hiring Freitag to murder Oosthuizen’s fiancé, Louis Harmse. Harmse alleged Freitag attacked him with a brick on June 13. According to his sister, Freitag struggled with addiction and, at the time of his death, was divorced and had one estranged son.^[1][2][4]

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

See also

• List of solved missing person cases: 2020s