Canadian pole vault record holder and 2015 world champion Sean Barber has passed away due to complications. He was 29 years old.
Barber died Wednesday at his home in Kingwood, Texas, his agent Paul Doyle confirmed to The Associated Press. The cause of death is not yet known. Mr. Barber had health problems.
Shaunathy Barber (Canada) competes in the men's pole vault at the Golden Gala IAAF Diamond League Rome 2018 held at Olimpico Stadium in Rome, Italy on May 31, 2018. (Matteo Cianbelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Sean was not only a great athlete, but also a very kind-hearted person who always put others before himself,” Doyle said Thursday. “It's a tragedy to lose such a talented person at such a young age.”
Canada's Shonathy Barber competes in the men's pole vault at the PSD Bank Indoor Track and Field Championships in Dusseldorf, Germany, on February 6, 2018. (Lucas Schulz/Getty Images)
Barber was an outstanding pole vaulter. University of AkronThere he won back-to-back NCAA indoor championships in 2014 and 2015. He also won the NCAA outdoor championship in 2015 and won a gold medal at the Pan Am Games later that summer. Barber took the world by storm that season in Beijing. He won the gold medal by defeating Germany's Rafael Marcel Holzdeppe.
A year later, Barber reached the pole vault finals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where Brazil's Thiago Blas won.
Barber's highest jump was 6 meters (19 feet, 8 1/4 inches) on January 15, 2016 in Reno, Nevada. His record remains a Canadian record.
He is survived by his mother, Ann; his father, George; and his brother David.
