Canadian world champion pole vaulter Shawn Barber dead at 29 from medical complications
Shawn Barber, the Canadian pole vault record holder and 2015 world champion, has died from medical complications. He was 29.
Barber died Wednesday at home in Kingwood, Texas, his agent, Paul Doyle, confirmed to The Associated Press. A cause of death was not yet known. Barber had been experiencing health issues.
“More than just an incredible athlete, Shawn was such a good-hearted person that always put others ahead of himself,” Doyle said Thursday. “It’s tragic to lose such a good person at such a young age.”
He is the Canadian record holder in the men’s pole vault at 6.00 metres, which he set in January 2016. Barber won the 2015 world championships in Beijing, China, with a mark of 5.90.
He also won the NCAA outdoor title in 2015 for the University of Akron, earning the second of back-to-back indoor titles that season. Barber won one of his five Canadian titles that year as well.
Our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Shawn Barber, Canadian Pole Vaulter – 2015 World Champion, Rio 2016 Olympian and Canadian Record Holder. <a href=”https://t.co/Mn7DcVKgqy”>pic.twitter.com/Mn7DcVKgqy</a>
—@AthleticsCanada
A year later, Barber made the final at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in a pole vault event won by Thiago Braz of Brazil.
He’s survived by his mother, Ann; father, George; and brother, David.
