Former high jump world champ Jacques Freitag found shot dead in South Africa

South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month, local media reported on Wednesday.

The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot.

His family declined to comment. Police said they found the body in a field near a cemetery in the city of Pretoria. The body had not yet been formally identified by family members.

Freitag's sister, Chrissie Lewis, had appealed for help on social media to find Freitag, who went missing in the predawn hours of June 17 after leaving his mother's house. Lewis said he had struggled with drug addiction after his athletics career ended.

Athletics South Africa commission chairperson Hendrick Mokganyetsi, who said he had often travelled with Freitag to international events, said per EWN : "On the fifth of March 2005, I remember he cleared 2.38 metres - that was a national record.

"He was a four-time SA champ in high jump. In 2000, he won gold at the world junior champs that were held in Santiago, Chile.

"[In2003] He won the gold medal at the world champs in Paris with a jump of 2.35 metres. This victory made him the first South African to win a gold in high jump at the world champs."

Freitag was among a select group of athletes to win world titles at youth, junior and senior level.