World pole vault champion Shaun Barber dies at 29: What we know about the circumstances of his death

Shaun Barber won the world title in Beijing in 2015 by clearing a bar at 5.90m and won his other major international crown at the Pan American Games in Toronto the same year.

It was through an Instagram message that his agent Paul Doyle announced the death of Canadian Paul Walter, without detailing the circumstances of his death.

The University of Akron in Ohio, with which Barber was a three-time varsity champion, provided little more information about the Canadian’s disappearance. “Shawn Barber died of medical complications at his home in Kingswood, Texas on Wednesday, January 17. Barber had been ill and had been in declining health for some time,” the university wrote on its website.

Leville: “I can’t believe you’re gone”

“A friend who will never be forgotten,” his agent wrote on Doyle Management’s Instagram page. Barber still holds the Canadian record at 6 meters indoors and 5.93 meters outdoors. “Shawn was also an Olympic finalist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He will be greatly missed,” added Paul Doyle.

Paul Walter, a dual American and Canadian national, stunned everyone by winning world gold in 2015 at the age of just 21, ahead of German Raphael Holzdeppe and the favourite, Frenchman Renaud Leville.

“I can’t believe you’re gone, Shawn. Rest in peace my friend,” the French champion responded on Instagram shortly after the announcement, adding that “the Paul Walt family has lost an extraordinary person.”