29-year-old Former World Champion in Pole Vaulting Dies

Shawn Barber’s personal best of 6.00m remains a Canadian record. Image: GETTY IMAGES

29-year-old former world champion in pole vaulting Dies.

Shawn Barber, a Canadian who once won the world pole vault championship, passed away at the age of 29 from illnesses.

Barber passed unexpectedly at home in Texas, according to his agent Paul Doyle, who spoke with the Reuters news agency.

Barber won the Pan American Games in 2015, placed 10th in the Rio 2016 Olympics, and won gold at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

His greatest leap, which still stands as a Canadian record at 6.00 metres, was recorded in January 2016.

“More than just an incredible athlete, Shawn was such a good-hearted person that always put others ahead of himself,” Doyle stated on Thursday.

“It’s tragic to lose such a good person at such a young age.”

Barber, who was dual-citizen of Canada and the United States, defeated a field that included German champion Raphael Holzdeppe and Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, who was holding the world record at the time, to win gold in China.

Athletics Canada wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “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.”

“One of the best pole vaulters in the world, Shawn Barber, passed away today,” said Pole Vaulter Piotr Lisek of Poland, who took home a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in London.

“We had the opportunity to host him on Polish soil many times, and he showed his heart many times with incredible cheerfulness.”