16 Facts About Shawnacy Barber

Shawnacy Campbell "Shawn" Barber was born on 27 May 1994 and is a Canadian track and field athlete specialising in the pole vault.

Shawnacy Barber won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as well.

Shawnacy Barber is tied for the Pan Am record together with Lazaro Borges.

Shawnacy Barber holds the NCAA Collegiate Indoor Record at 5.91m.

At the 2015 NCAA finals in June Shawnacy Barber won the event with a jump of 5.60 metres.

Shawnacy Barber jumped to a 5.80 there, tying a Pan Am record with Lazaro Borges who set the record in 2011.

Shawnacy Barber had missed his 5.40 jump very badly in the early rounds, bringing on some nerves to both himself and the home crowd.

Shawnacy Barber later explained the slip up as a result of earlier applying sunscreen with some residue remaining on his hands.

Shawnacy 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 to ever reach that height.

Shawnacy Barber took this momentum into the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Shawnacy Barber finished fourth while Lavillenie would go on to win the event.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Shawnacy Barber placed tenth in wet and windy conditions.

Shawnacy Barber cleared 5.50 metres before missing on all three attempts at 5.65.

Shawnacy Barber holds dual Canadian-American citizenship, having been born in New Mexico and his father George Shawnacy Barber grew up in El Paso, Texas, but was himself born in Kincardine, Ontario.

At age 10 his mother Ann Shawnacy Barber divorced his father and he moved to New Caney, Texas.

Shawnacy Barber refers to Toronto as his hometown during competitions and says he chose to represent Canada since his particular sport was more important in Canada as well as to follow in his father's footsteps who was a pole vaulter for Canada at the 1983 World Championships and a competitor twice at Team Canada Summer Olympic trials.