According to the Canadian Press On Thursday, Shawnacy Barber of Toronto, Ontario, died Wednesday of an illness at the age of 29. Barber won the gold medal in the men’s pole vault at the 2015 International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China. He is considered Canada’s greatest pole vaulter of all time.
Barber managed a jump of 5.9 meters. Together with Raphael Holzdeppe from Germany, he had the best jump of the event. However, Barber won gold because he cleared 5.8 and 5.9 meters on his first attempt, while Holzdeppe needed two attempts to clear 5.8 meters and three attempts to clear 5.9 meters. Barber reached the World Championship podium with a lead of one tenth of a meter. Pawel Wojceichowski of Poland won the bronze medal with 5.8 meters and Renaud Lavillenie of France took fourth place with 5.8 meters.
Also in 2015, Barber set the Canadian record in the men’s pole vault with a jump of 5.93 metres. At the IAAF Diamond League London Grand Prix he came second, only behind Lavillenie, who had a distance of 6.03 meters in the pole vault.
In addition to winning his gold medal at the world championship level, Barber also won a gold medal in the men’s pole vault at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. He also won silver medals at the 2013 Francophone Games in Nice and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, as well as a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
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