Port Elizabeth - Port Elizabeth police in the Eastern Cape have recovered the body of missing international Ironman contestant David Rene Roger Bellet-Brissaud, 48, from the Port Elizabeth harbour on Thursday.

He had been missing for a week. The athlete's siblings had travelled to South Africa to assist with the search, which ended with the gruesome find - Bellet-Brissaud's body was found with a tyre bound to his feet.

Bellet-Brissaud and his wife booked into the Paxton Hotel in Port Elizabeth last week. After settling in, the couple took a walk on the beachfront and later dined with friends at the Boardwalk complex.

At about 9 pm on Friday, the couple retired to their rooms. At about 1 am, his wife woke up and noticed that her husband was not in the room and had been missing ever since.

CCTV footage showed that Bellet-Brissaud left the room and walked out of the hotel and walked down the street, police said at the time.