Shawn Barber, Canadian world champion pole vaulter, dies at 29

2024-12-26 00:15:57 source:lotradecoin trading with stablecoins category:News

Shawn Barber, the Canadian pole vault record holder and 2015 world champion, has died from medical complications. He was 29.

Barber died Wednesday at home in Kingwood, Texas, his agent, Paul Doyle, confirmed to CBS News. A cause of death was not yet known. Barber had been experiencing health issues.

"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 a young age."

"I can also say that since the news has hit I've been hearing from people from all around the globe offering condolences and sharing fond memories of Shawn," Doyle added. "He was a great guy and will be really missed by a lot of people all over the World."

Shawnacy "Shawn" Barber on day eight of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium on April 12, 2018, on the Gold Coast, Australia. Cameron Spencer / Getty Images

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.

He's survived by his mother, Ann; father, George; and brother, David.

    In:
  • Sports

More:News

Recommend

The Sundance Film Festival unveils its lineup including Jennifer Lopez, Questlove and more

Next year’s Sundance Film Festivalwill feature Jennifer Lopezsinging and dancing in Bill Condon’s “K

The destruction of a Jackie Robinson statue was awful. What happened next was amazing.

In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the series "29 Black Stories in

Harry Edwards, civil rights icon and 49ers advisor, teaches life lessons amid cancer fight

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Class is in session.As usual, a lesson from the esteemed Harry Edwards positio