His name features alongside those of iconic athletes such as Usain Bolt and Yelena Isinbayeva, but Jacques Freitag's meteoric rise to sporting fame and fortune came at a high price.
Freitag's bullet-ridden body was found in a field near the Zandfontein Cemetery in Pretoria West on Monday afternoon, during an extensive search operation for the former high jump world champion.
The towering 2.04m-tall giant turned 42 just days before he was picked up by a man in the early hours of Monday morning. 17 June, from the Bronkhorstspruit home of his mother, Hendrina Pieters. Freitag, one of only 10 athletes to have to won world championships at the youth, junior and senior level of an athletic event, was dropped off hours later at a guesthouse in Pretoria West, where he was last seen alive.
The guesthouse is situated 4km from the cemetery where Freitag's body was discovered.
In the latest developments of his puzzling murder case, Maroela Media claims that the previously unknown man is a former Pretoria lawyer.
The publication traced the number from which Freitag phoned the guesthouse several hours later that morning to enquire about a room ahead of his arrival.
The former top athlete was allegedly also stabbed. The police's search for the knife, projectile and bullet casings, however, yielded no results.
In July last year, the former champion sought help for his years-long battle against drug and alcohol addiction at the Breakthrough Wellness Centre in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga.
While he was at the centre, Freitag spoke in an interview with Witbank News about the trials and tribulations of his life.
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