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Golden boy of South African sport found dead after missing for 15 days reports.

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6 months ago

July 4, 2024

Golden boy of South African sport found dead after missing for 15 days reports.

The news shocked the sporting community in South Africa when the “Golden boy of sport” and former world high jump champion, Jacques Freitag, was found dead in a cemetery in West Pretoria after being missing for 15 days.

The news stunned the South African sporting world. Jacques Freitag, once a prominent figure in athletics, was found with multiple gunshot wounds near the Zandfontein cemetery near the South African capital, Pretoria.

South African police spokeswoman Brigadier Brenda Muridili confirmed that Freitag had been found dead. The 42-year-old former athlete was reported missing on 17 June after visiting his mother’s home in Bronkhorstpruit.

According to his sister Chrissie Lewis, the athlete, best known for winning the high jump at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, was last seen when he was picked up by a man who offered him a job. Since then, the family had received no news until the tragic discovery last Tuesday.

The man once known as the golden boy of South African sport had fallen on hard times in recent years. Reports suggest that the Warrenton-born athlete had struggled with recreational drug addiction for years and had been living in precarious conditions since retiring from sport in 2013.

According to local media, despite his attempts to recover and find employment, his situation led to reports of him sleeping on the streets on several occasions.

Jacques Freitag, with Holm and Boswell at the 2003 World Championships in Paris. GETTY IMAGES
The South African authorities believe that the primary hypothesis is that this was a murder, possibly related to drug trafficking. More information on the motive for the crime is expected in the coming days.

South African sport is mourning the loss of one of its greatest talents outside of rugby, the country’s flagship sport. Freitag is one of the few athletes to have won World Championships at three different levels, joining the likes of Jamaican sprinters Usain Bolt and Veronica Campbell-Brown.

Freitag’s sporting career was highlighted by his performance at the 1999 World Under-18 Championships in Poland, where he won gold, a feat he repeated just two years later at the World Under-20 Championships in Chile.

The pinnacle of his sporting career came more than two decades ago. At the Stade de France in Paris, during the IAAF (now World Athletics) World Championships, Freitag cleared 2.35 metres to become the world’s best high jumper.

After this triumph, his career did not progress as he had hoped. A year later, at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he finished 20th with a poor mark of 2.20 metres. The following year, he set a new national record of 2.38 metres, which still stands in the rankings.

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Softball Coaches Named NFCA Staff of the Year
June 20, 2024 | Softball

NORMAN – The Oklahoma softball coaching staff has been named the 2024 ATEC/NFCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year for the third straight season, announced Thursday by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

The Sooner coaching staff, consisting of head coach Patty Gasso, associate head coaches Jennifer Rocha and JT Gasso and assistant coach Falepolima Steele, guided the program to its fourth consecutive and eighth overall national title in 2024.

It marks the third straight and seventh overall national coaching staff of the year honor for Gasso and her staffs, also receiving the award in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2022 and 2023.

Under the coaches’ tutelage, the Sooners earned their NCAA-record fourth-straight national championship while going 59-7 (.894) with a 22-5 record in Big 12 play. OU opened Love’s Field to a record season attendance of 108,156 (4,326 average) and enjoyed a perfect 5-0 postseason at its new home.

Oklahoma led the nation in wins and on-base percentage while ranking top-five nationally in multiple statistical categories including home runs, batting average, shutouts, slugging percentage, doubles, fielding percentage and OPS.

The Sooners recorded 27 run-rule wins and 23 shutouts while going 38-6 against power five opponents.
A nation-high five Sooners were named NFCA All-Americans, nine Sooners earned All-Big 12 accolades and five were tabbed WCWS All-Tournament Team selections, including the Most Outstanding Player, pitcher Kelly Maxwell.

The National Coaching Staff of the Year award is voted on by NCAA DI member head coaches.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma Softball, follow the Sooners on Twitter/X and Instagram (@OU_Softball) and like Oklahoma Softball on Facebook.
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BREAKING [🎖️]: Joshua Kimmich is hell-bent on joining Pep Guardiola at MManchester City

Kimmich is desperate to be reunited with Guardiola – and has told his representatives he wants to head to the Etihad ahead of anywhere else.

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Man City are ‘set to sign Savio on a five-year deal’ from fellow City Football Group side Troyes – as Pep Guardiola’s team prepare to make the 20-year-old their first summer signing
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18:21 BST 02 Jul 2024, updated 20:33 BST 02 Jul 2024
By Ed Carruthers
Man City have told Savio they ‘intend to make him part of their first team’
Savio played a huge part in helping Girona finish third in LaLiga last season
LISTEN to It’s All Kicking Off! EUROS DAILY: Why do England look ‘miserable’ and like they are split into ‘two factions’?
Manchester City are preparing to make their first acquisition of the 2024 summer transfer window, with the Premier League champions set to sign Savio, also known as Savinho, on a five-year contract, according to reports.

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Pep Guardiola’s side are yet to make a move in the market, but according to The Athletic, are preparing to sign the 20-year-old winger from fellow City Group club, Troyes.

The outlet adds that Guardiola’s side have ‘informed the youngster of their intention for him to become a part of their first-team plans next season.’

The winger, who hails from the municipality of Sao Mateus in Brazil, graduated from the Atletico Miniero youth academy before moving to Troyes in 2022.

Despite joining the French outfit, Savio has not made a single competitive appearance for Troyes, having been sent out on loan to play for PSV Eindhoven and Girona.

Manchester City are eyeing up a move to sign Brazil winger Savio (pictured) this summer
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Manchester City are eyeing up a move to sign Brazil winger Savio (pictured) this summer
The 20-year-old (centre, top) is on the books at Troyes but spent last season on loan at Girona
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The 20-year-old (centre, top) is on the books at Troyes but spent last season on loan at Girona
He could become Pep Guardiola’s (pictured) first signing of the summer transfer window
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He could become Pep Guardiola’s (pictured) first signing of the summer transfer window
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Last season he made 41 appearances for the LaLiga side, returning 11 goals and 10 assists, helping Girona finish third in the Spanish top flight and secure a berth in Europe next season.

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EUROS DAILY, England look like ‘two factions’ and it would be ‘NEGLIGENCE’ to play the same team
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Savio has reaped the rewards of his excellent form, earning himself a call-up to the Brazil national squad this year, where he made his debut against England at Wembley.

He has gone on to win five caps, notably scoring in Brazil’s 4-1 Copa America victory against Paraguay on Saturday.

Troyes, meanwhile, have suffered back-to-back relegations in the past two seasons, with the club plummeting to the French third division after being relegated from Ligue 2 this summer.

It appears Man City may have been considering a swoop for the 20-year-old winger since December of last year, with rumours circulating that the club were interested in buying the winger from the French outfit.

Arsenal have also previously shown an interest in signing the Brazilian wonderkid back in 2022.

Last season Savio made 41 appearances for Girona, returning 11 goals and 10 assists
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Last season Savio made 41 appearances for Girona, returning 11 goals and 10 assists
He also scored for Brazil on Saturday in their 4-1 win against Paraguay in the Copa America
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He also scored for Brazil on Saturday in their 4-1 win against Paraguay in the Copa America
Meanwhile, Mail Sport understands James McAtee is scheduled to join Guardiola’s side on their pre-season tour of the United States.

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It comes amid interest from Chelsea and other Premier League rivals, with Enzo Maresca having previously attempted to acquire the midfielder during his spell as Leicester boss.

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Patty Gasso: NIL ‘Could Be’ to Blame for Oklahoma Still Missing the ‘Little Things’
The legendary coach of Oklahoma’s undefeated, No. 1-ranked softball team said there’s not enough information yet, but she’s taking steps like “blue-collar days” to address it.
JOHN E. HOOVERMAR 16, 2022 9:59 PM EDT
Patty Gasso sees her team’s performance and potential through a different lens than the rest of the world.

A perfect record — 20-0 at the moment — doesn’t translate to a perfect team.

In fact, the Oklahoma softball coach currently rates her squad as a 6 out of 10.

Is it the unrealistic expectations of following a 56-4, national championship season with almost the whole roster back? Or is it something else?

Is it being a student-athlete in 2022? Is it Name, Image and Likeness?

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Gasso said Wednesday. “I would say definitely could be. But because we don’t know a lot of what is going on in their lives, with the business side of things, it could be. It could be taking their attention away a little bit.”

Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jocelyn Alo

Ty Russell, OU Athletics

John E. Hoover / SI Sooners

Patty Gasso

Gasso said she’s seen things this year that she’s never had to deal with — at least before last July 1, when NIL legislation (or in the NCAA’s case, lack of legislation) was enacted.

“You’ve got 18- 19-year-olds having new responsibilities in order to make money,” Gasso said. “And that is, ‘I got to get on my phone, and I got to put out posts and I’ve got to do this or that.’ I don’t know.”

By rule, Gasso isn’t allowed to “monitor” her athletes’ NIL endeavors. She’s supposed to remover herself from their NIL equation. Coaches can have team policies, but athletes can loosely skirt those if it’s an NIL opportunity.

Anything else and Gasso can be seen as restricting their ability to earn.

That’s the tough part for coaches who have made it literally their business and their careers to know every aspect of their players’ lives — athletic, academic, family, personal, financial, everything. Gasso said on a radio interview Tuesday, “this is my livelihood too.”

The way Gasso described it Wednesday, it sounds a lot like entitlement. Details — “little things,” she describes it — are sometimes slipping through the cracks now.

“For the most part,” she said, “I think when we’re playing, they’re focused. When I’m talking the little things, it’s, ‘Oh, I forgot. I forgot this,’ or — yesterday we had an example of a ball going over someone’s head, hit the wall and it kind of trickled out and there just wasn’t enough hustle at all for me. So I’m working with the infield and I stop what I’m doing to address it. And as long as I have to keep addressing lack of hustle or lack of focus or lack of priority, we’re always going to remain a 6, and I have told them that plenty of times.”

Accountability, Gasso said, must naturally come from the upperclassmen. Especially the seniors. NIL or not, that part hasn’t really changed. She reiterates that it’s almost impossible quantify because it’s all so new — to everyone.

“Jocelyn Alo has some deals, I do know that, and she is working and she’s playing hard and she is focused,” Gasso said. “So I can’t say that (NIL is hurting her performance). Every player on our team is in that position. But I do think some are very young to be handling some of the things that are coming their way. I don’t know that all of them have agents, or maybe, ‘My parents are making these decisions,’ so forth. It’s hard to know. But I just think we just need a little more accountability and maturity.”

To bore down and extract those qualities, Gasso has implemented — reimplemented, actually — a new practice that she’s done with teams in the past. When they’ve needed it, that is.

“What we have started to do now is create like, a blue-collar day, where after practice, they’re all given job responsibilities. Last night, we’re raking leaves, were blowing out the dugouts, we’re down on our hands and knees picking up little pieces (of) trash from the indoor. They’re picking up trash behind the grandstands. I mean, they are sweeping off the turf.

“So everybody’s got jobs. Like, you get to learn how to take care of your house. So this is our house. You want to know what it means to keep your house in order. This stadium is going to be in order as long as we’re here. So we’ve changed a few things and put them to work.”

It’s probably not the most popular thing she’s ever done, but for this team, there are new opportunities for team bonding, for building a sense of pride, taking care of the “little things.”

“I’m just trying to get them to understand about work,” Gasso said. “And stop leaving it to everyone else. I guess that’s what I’m trying to teach with this. Like, ‘I forgot my socks; I’m going to go into the equipment room and ask for a pair of socks.’ Everybody keeps bailing you out. And we’re not going to do that anymore. So, we wait for our people here to clean our dugout — we’re going to do it ourselves now.”

“The NIL, it’s a helpless feeling as a coach. I’m not saying that the NIL is creating these things, because I don’t know. I don’t know what they’re doing. And that’s where every coach would tell you, your hands are tied. Because like, again, these are 18- and 19-year-olds making decisions that I don’t even know about until someone might tell me by happenstance.

“Just trying to continue to create like, this blue-collar effort. And just — girls to women. We still have too much ‘girl’ mentality we need to change.”

BY JOHN E. HOOVER
Award-winning newspaper guy for 31 years, the last four as lead sports columnist at the Tulsa World. Had my own sports talk radio show for six years in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Now I publish AllSooners, the Fan Nation/Sports Illustrated affiliate covering the Oklahoma Sooners.

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