Shawn Barber Wins Gold at IAAF World Championships

Shawn Barber and winning are almost synonymous.

Two months after polishing off a flawless junior season at Akron, Barber captured gold on the international stage. Barber, who represents Canada, won the men’s pole vault at the IAAF World Championships on Monday in Beijing, China.

The 2015 Bowerman Trophy finalist cleared 5.90m (19-4.25) on his first try, while defending champion Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany needed three attempts. Both men fouled on all three attempts at 6.00m (19-8.25), giving Barber the gold and Canada its first medal in the event at the world championships.

Canada's Shawn Barber clear at 5.90 in pole vault to take the lead! His scorecard is perfect. #cbcolympics pic.twitter.com/IFTlevTdwy

— Perdita Felicien (@perditafelicien) August 24, 2015

Barber and Holzdeppe were the only two men left at 6.00 meters. Indoor world record holder and reigning Olympic Champion Reunaud Lavillenie of France, as well as the Polish duo of Piotr Lisek and Pawel Wojciechowski, fell out of contention at 5.90m and shared bronze.

This was the second consecutive meet in which Barber outlasted Holzdeppe for the top spot. Earlier this month, Barber beat Holzdeppe in his native country at the Jockgrim Stabhochsprung Meeting.

The IAAF gold medal puts a bow on a historic 2015 campaign for Barber that saw him win two NCAA titles, break the collegiate indoor record, set new Canadian indoor and outdoor national records, win the Pan American Games gold, and surpass 5.80m (19-0.25) a staggering 23 times.

Bromell, De Grasse shine

Last week we pinpointed the head-to-head matchup of Baylor’s Trayvon Bromell and Southern California’s Andre De Grasse as one to watch at the world championships.

Bromell, an American, and De Grasse, a Canadian, lived up to the hype.

After pushing each other into Sunday’s final of the 100-meter dash, Bromell and De Grasse held their own against the world’s best. Bromell and De Grasse finished in a dead heat for third place (9.92 seconds) behind The World’s Fastest Man Usain Bolt (9.79) and the United States’ Justin Gatlin (9.80).