Shawnacy Barber facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Shawnacy Barber

Barber competing in 2018
Personal information
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1994-05-27)27 May 1994 Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.
Died	17 January 2024(2024-01-17) (aged 29) Kingwood, Texas, U.S.
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb; 12.4 st)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Pole vault
College team	University of Akron
Turned pro	2015
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Outdoor 5.93 m (2015) NR Indoor 6.00 m (2016) NR
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 1 0 0 Commonwealth Games 0 1 1 Pan American Games 1 0 0 Jeux de la Francophonie 0 1 0 World Junior Championships 0 0 1 Continental Cup 0 0 1 Total 2 2 3 Men's athletics Representing  Canada World Championships Gold 2015 Beijing Pole vault Commonwealth Games Silver 2018 Gold Coast Pole vault Bronze 2014 Glasgow Pole vault Pan American Games Gold 2015 Toronto Pole vault Jeux de la Francophonie Silver 2013 Nice Pole vault World Junior Championships Bronze 2012 Barcelona Pole vault Representing Americas Continental Cup Bronze 2018 Ostrava Pole vault

Shawnacy Campbell Barber (27 May 1994 – 17 January 2024) was a Canadian track and field athlete specializing in the pole vault.

Barber was a world champion in pole vault, having won the event with a height of 5.90 m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. Barber also became a Pan American Games champion in winning the 2015 edition of the Games with a height of 5.80 m. Barber won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as well.

His outdoor personal best jump of 5.93 metres was made on 25 July 2015, and it is the current national record. His indoor personal best was 6.00 metres from 2016 (Canadian Indoor Record). Barber is tied for the Pan Am record together with Lázaro Borges. He also holds the NCAA Collegiate Indoor Record at 5.91 m.

Career

College

After competing at the 2013 World Championships, Barber failed to qualify for the final. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow he met with success, winning bronze as a 20-year-old in the event, clearing 5.45 m on the first attempt but failing at 5.55.

During the 2015 season, Barber set a personal best and national record of 5.91 m at the 2015 Texas Relays to set an NCAA Collegiate Record. With the first event of the season, he set a world-leading number. After the Texas Relays event, he said, "You know, six months ago if you asked me if I'd be jumping at 5.90 consistently, I would have told you 'No way.' But it's funny how things happen, and I couldn't be more grateful to be where I am right now." Barber was the 2015 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Regional Field Athlete of the Year. At the 2015 NCAA finals in June, Barber won the event with a vault of 5.60 metres. With this title, Barber became the only three-time NCAA champion for the University of Akron after winning the 2014 and 2015 NCAA indoor titles as well.

Pan Am and World success

The 2015 Pan American Games took place on Canadian soil in Toronto, Ontario. Barber jumped to a 5.80 there, tying the Pan Am record that Lázaro Borges had set in 2011. Barber had missed his 5.40 vault very badly in the early rounds, bringing on some nerves to both himself and the home crowd. He later explained the slip-up as a result of earlier applying sunscreen with some residue remaining on his hands. Barber signed with Nike in August 2015.

Following the Pan American games in Toronto, Barber next competed in the 2015 World Championships in Athletics taking place in Beijing, where he won the world title with a jump of 5.90 m. This was Canada's first world title in athletics since 2003, though Derek Drouin would match Barber's gold later on in the high jump in Beijing. After the win, Barber said, "I don't think it has sunk in quite yet, and I'm looking forward to the next few days when it does. I was fortunate to be very consistent throughout the meet. That was the name of the game. I came in knowing that it was going to be a meet that came down to first attempts. I couldn't have asked for a better competition."

Barber cleared six metres for the first time in January 2016 at the Pole Vault Summit, improving his own national record and becoming the first under-23 athlete ever to reach that height. Barber took this momentum into the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships. There had been a growing rivalry between himself and Renaud Lavillenie since the outdoor world championships, though here in the indoor event Barber did not meet those expectations. He finished fourth while Lavillenie would go on to win the event. Barber was disappointed after, saying that "The nerves were definitely there. Anytime you get together with this group of guys and you start jumping at these heights, it's definitely a nervous event. Coming through on those third attempts definitely helped, and it taught me a lot about my jumping style, and gives me a good platform to go on outdoors."

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Barber placed tenth in wet and windy conditions. He cleared 5.50 metres before missing on all three attempts at 5.65.

Personal life and death

Barber held dual Canadian-American citizenship, having been born in Las Cruces, New Mexico to a father, George Barber, who grew up in El Paso, Texas, but was himself born in Kincardine, Ontario. At age 10, his mother Ann Barber divorced his father, and Shawnacy moved to New Caney, Texas. He split his time growing up between the Toronto area and the United States and graduated from Kingwood Park High School in Houston. Barber referred to Toronto as his hometown during competitions and said he chose to represent Canada because his particular sport was more important in Canada, and to follow in the footsteps of his father, who was a pole vaulter for Canada at the 1983 World Championships and a competitor twice at Team Canada Summer Olympic trials. Barber came out as gay in April 2017.

On 17 January 2024, Barber died at his home in Kingwood, Texas, from medical complications following a period of ill health. He was 29.

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing  Canada
2012	World Junior Championships	Barcelona, Spain	3rd	5.55 m
2013	Universiade	Kazan, Russia	11th	5.15 m
	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	27th (q)	5.40 m
	Pan American Junior Championships	Medellin, Colombia	1st	5.35 m
	Jeux de la Francophonie	Nice, France	2nd	5.20 m
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	3rd	5.45 m
2015	Pan American Games	Toronto, Canada	1st	5.80 m
	World Championships	Beijing, China	1st	5.90 m
2016	World Indoor Championships	Portland, United States	4th	5.75 m
	World Indoor Tour	Karlsruhe, Germany Boston, United States Stockholm, Sweden Glasgow, United Kingdom	Overall 1st in Pole vault	5.89 m
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	10th	5.50 m
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	8th	5.65 m
2018	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	15th	5.45 m
	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	2nd	5.65 m
	NACAC Championships	Toronto, Canada	2nd	5.40 m
	2018 IAAF Continental Cup	Ostrava, Czech Republic	3rd	5.65 m1

¹Representing the Americas

See also

In Spanish: Shawnacy Barber para niños