Olympian Shawn Barber Dead at 29

A young athlete has died after experiencing health issues.

Canadian pole vaulter Shawn Barber died Jan. 17 at his home in Kingwood, Texas, his agent Paul Doyle told The Associated Press. He was 29.

Barber passed away due to medical complications, according to the outlet. His official cause of death has not been shared.

"More than just an incredible athlete, Shawn was such a good-hearted person that always put others ahead of himself," Doyle told the AP Jan. 18. "It's tragic to lose such a good person at such a young age."

After competing at the University of Akron, Barber became the world champion for pole vaulting in 2015 with a height of 5.90 meters. The same year, he was crowned a Pan American Games champion and went on to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 

However, Barber faced challenges in his athletic career in the following years. He suffered ankle injuries in 2018 and took a break from competing in 2019, according to Canadian outlet CBC.

"I was dealing with some personal issues—injuries, family," he told the news broadcaster in 2020. "There were a lot of personal factors playing roles in my career that I had to re-evaluate and I'm still in the process of managing those relationships."

Describing himself as "fairly healthy" at the time, Barber said he was happy to be slowly returning to the sport again.

"It's a lot of fun to have those early couple of meets," he added. "Something I'm looking forward to working on is just being able to show up and have fun at a meet without the sense of pressure."