Canadian pole vaulter Shawn Barber, world champion in Beijing 2015, died this Thursday at the age of 29 at his home in Kingwood, Texas (United States), for reasons that are still unknown.
Barber, who had not competed since 2020, became world champion in Beijing 2015 at only 21 years old thanks to a jump of 5.90 meters, a mark that he could not repeat in 2016, at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, in which he was tenth with a mark of 5.50 meters.
That same year, on January 16, 2016, in a competition in Reno, the Canadian athlete reached six meters, a mark that he would not achieve again in his short professional career.
“More than just an incredible athlete, Shawn was such a good-hearted person who always put others before himself. It’s tragic to lose such a good person at such a young age,” his agent Paul Doyle told The Associated Press for report the news.
Barber also won a Diamond League in Zurich, Switzerland in 2015, the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada the same year, and five NCAA national championships between 2013 and 2018.
