International athletics mourns the loss of former pole vault world champion Shawnacy “Shawn” Barber. The Canadian died at his home in the American state of Texas at the age of just 29, according to Barber’s advisor Paul Doyle. There was initially no information or knowledge available about the cause of the former world-class athlete’s sudden death.
Barber, who also had an American passport and came out as gay seven years ago, had already reached the peak of his career by winning the title at the 2015 World Cup in Beijing.
World champion in front of Holzdeppe
In his World Cup triumph in China, in which he jumped 5.90 meters, Barber prevailed over Raphael Holzdeppe from Leverkusen, who was at the same height, and had to be content with silver. Barber was 21 years old at the time.
In the same year, Barber also won the Pan American Games in Toronto, before disappointment with tenth place at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He later made headlines for testing positive for cocaine.
With his personal best of 5.93 meters, Canada’s five-time champion also set a national outdoor record. In 2016, Barber once exceeded the 6.00 meter mark at an indoor meet.