South Africa world champion Jacques Freitag missing

Former South African world high jump champion, and current national record holder in the event, Jacques Freitag, has gone missing in Gauteng.

Freitag’s sister, Chrissie Lewis, put out a call on social media for the public to assist in finding him.

He has not been seen since 12 June, the day after his 42nd birthday when he reportedly visited his mother, Hendrina, in Bronkhorstspruit.

“With sadness to say. We have to report that my brother Jacques Freitag is missing,” Lewis said in a Facebook post.

“Last seen alive 12 June. He has been dropped off in a bush in Booysens, Pretoria West.”

Lewis included her phone number in the post for anyone with information to urgently contact her.

Freitag is a four-time South African high jump champion and still holds the national record of 2.38 metres which he set in Oudtshoorn on 5 March 2005.

In 2003 he cleared 2.35 metres at the Stade de France in Paris to win the gold medal at the IAAF World Championships.

Freitag represented South Africa at the Athens Olympics in 2004, but failed to make the high jump final, clearing just 2.20 metres in qualifying.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that since his retirement from the sport in 2013, Freitag struggled financially, had a recreational drug addiction and on occasion was living on the streets in Pretoria.

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