Former Canadian world champion pole vaulter Shawn Barber has died. He was 29 years outdated.
Barber died Wednesday night time, his agent Paul Doyle advised The Canadian Press.
The precise explanation for loss of life was not disclosed, however Barber had been coping with an ongoing sickness.
In an Instagram put up from his administration web page, Doyle described Barber as “a good friend that may by no means be forgotten,” earlier than including, “He will likely be enormously missed.”
“Gone method too quickly,” stated North Macedonia lengthy jumper Andreas Trajkovski beneath one other Instagram put up. “So unhappy. This was a troublesome one to put up.”
Various followers posted their condolences throughout social media, expressing their unhappiness and recounting the recollections Barber left them with from his faculty and early professional years.
“Our ideas and prayers to the household and mates of Shawn Barber, Canadian Pole Vaulter — 2015 World Champion, Rio 2016 Olympian and Canadian Document Holder,” Athletics Canada posted on X, previously referred to as Twitter.
Barber was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, however held twin Canadian-American citizenship as his father, George, was born in Kincardine, Ont. The household cut up time between the U.S. and Canada, particularly Toronto.
Barber gained gold the 2015 world championships in Beijing, China, with a mark of 5.90 metres. The victory was Canada’s first athletics world title in 12 years on the time, and its first-ever worlds pole vault medal.
That got here only a month after claiming the third of his 5 Canadian titles and Pan American Video games gold in Toronto.
Piotr Lisek, who gained bronze on the 2015 worlds, referred to as Barber among the finest pole vaulters on the earth in a put up on X in Polish and posted footage of them collectively on the rostrum.
Barber had additionally gained the NCAA out of doors title in 2015 for the College of Akron, including to the second of back-to-back indoor titles that season.
George Barber, who competed for Canada in pole vault on the 1983 world championships, coached his son till being banned in November 2015 by Athletics Canada after it discovered of his 2007 felony conviction on costs of getting intercourse with a scholar whereas he was employed at a U.S. highschool.
Shawn Barber went on to set the Canadian males’s pole vault report of 6.00 metres in January 2016, however completed tenth on the Rio Olympic Video games that yr.
His resume additionally consists of bronze and silver medals from the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Video games, respectively.
Barber examined optimistic for traces of cocaine in a drug check earlier than the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport had proposed a four-year ban from competitors, however Barber wasn’t suspended and as an alternative was stripped of his 2016 nationwide title.
“This has been a studying expertise for Shawn, he’s a younger athlete studying compete on the sphere of play, and put together away from it,” Athletics Canada stated in an announcement on the time.
He was permitted to compete in Brazil after it was decided he inadvertently ingested the banned substance.
In line with the Sport Dispute Decision Centre of Canada (SDRCC) report, Barber ingested the cocaine on July 8, the night time earlier than he gained the Canadian title in Edmonton, in a sexual encounter with a girl.
The girl testified that she consumed cocaine earlier than she met Barber after which once more within the lavatory of his resort room. She stated at his listening to that he couldn’t have recognized she’d used the drug.
The court docket dominated that Barber, who referred to as the optimistic check “a whole shock,” had unknowingly ingested the drug via kissing.
Barber got here out as homosexual in an April 2017 Fb put up.
He acknowledged: “Homosexual and proud! Thanks to my dad and mom for being such a terrific help. I proceed to develop as an individual and have a terrific help group. My dad and mom are my biggest help and have helped me via loads just lately. To my mates, you might be all the time my mates and I like you too!”
Barber final competed in 2020.
