Canadian pole vaulter Shawn Barber (© Getty Images)
World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Canadian pole vaulter Shawn Barber died on Wednesday (17) at the age of 29.
A prodigious athlete, Barber won the 2015 world title at the age of 21. Five months later, he increased his own national record of 6.00m, which at the time made him the youngest man ever to clear the six-metre barrier.
Born in New Mexico, USA, Barber was exposed to the sport from an early age as his father was an international pole vaulter and represented Canada at the 1983 World Championships.
One week after his 18th birthday, Barber set a national U20 record of 5.32m. He increased that to 5.55m to take bronze at the 2012 World U20 Championships.
He began studying at Akron University in Ohio later that year and continued improving during his time in the US collegiate system. While still an U20 athlete in 2013, he set a senior Canadian record of 5.71m and competed at the World Championships in Moscow.
He won the NCAA indoor title in 2014 with a national indoor record of 5.75m and capped his outdoor season with Commonwealth bronze.
Barber came of age in 2015. He started the year with an undefeated indoor campaign, taking the NCAA indoor title and setting a national indoor record of 5.91m. During the summer season, he won the NCAA outdoor title and the Pan-American Games title, the latter on home soil in Toronto.
But his season peaked at the World Championships in Beijing, where he struck gold with a winning vault of 5.90m, earning Canada’s first World Championships medal in the pole vault. At the end of a busy 2015 season, Barber had notched up 25 victories from 32 competitions.
He continued to make history in 2016, setting an outright Canadian record of 6.00m to become the youngest six-metre vaulter in history up until that point. He placed fourth at the World Indoor Championships that year and went on to reach the Olympic final.
Despite difficulties on and off the pole vault runway, he managed to reach two more global finals, and took silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, ending that year with a season’s best of 5.92m. His last competition was during the 2020 indoor season.
Fellow pole vaulters and former teammates posted tributes online in the wake of the news.
“I’m completely devastated to hear of the passing of my former teammate and all-round trailblazer for Canadian track and field,” said high jumper Derek Drouin, who also won gold for Canada at the 2015 World Championships.
“RIP, my friend,” said former world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie. “The pole vault family has lost an amazing person. We will never forget you.”
Doyle Management, who guided Barber’s on-track career, posted a statement that said: “A friend that will never be forgotten. He will be greatly missed.”
World Athletics
