Canadian world champion pole vaulter Shawn Barber dies at 29

Shawn Barber, Canadian pole vault record holder and 2015 world champion, has died following medical 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 was not yet known. Barber had health problems.

“More than just an incredible athlete, Shawn was a kind-hearted person who always put others before himself,” Doyle said Thursday. “It’s tragic to lose such a good person at such a young age.”

Barber was a standout pole vaulter at the University of Akron, where he won back-to-back NCAA indoor championships in 2014 and 2015. He also won the NCAA outdoor crown in 2015, before winning gold later that summer at the Pan American Games. . Barber brought a wave of momentum to the worlds that season in Beijing. He won gold against German Raphael Marcel Holzdeppe.

A year later, Barber reached the final at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in a pole vault event won by Brazilian Thiago Braz.

Barber's best jump was 6 meters (19 feet, 8¼ inches) on January 15, 2016 in Reno, Nevada. His mark remains the Canadian record.

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