Eugene Nyavor
Canadian world champion pole vaulter, Shawn Barber has died at 29.
Barber died Wednesday at home in Kingwood, Texas, his agent, Paul Doyle, confirmed through Doyle Management Group social media.
A cause of death was not yet known but multiple reports revealed he died from medical complications.
“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.
Who was Shawn Barber?
Barber was a standout pole vaulter at the University of Akron, where he captured back-to-back NCAA indoor championships in 2014 and 2015.
He won the NCAA outdoor crown as well in 2015, before taking gold later that summer at the Pan-Am Games. Barber carried a wave of momentum into worlds that season in Beijing.
He took gold over Germany’s Raphael Marcel Holzdeppe.
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.
Barber’s best vault was six meters (19 feet, 8 ¼ inches) on Jan. 15, 2016, in Reno, Nevada. His mark remains the Canadian record.
Barber was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico but his father, George, was born in Ontario. The family split time between the U.S. and Canada.
He’s survived by his mother, Ann; father, George; and brother, David.
