Canadian athlete Sean Barber, the world champion in pole vaulting in 2015, died at the age of 29 at his home in Texas (USA), his agent said, citing AFP.

Sean BarberPhoto: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/Profimedia

Sean Barber died at the age of 29

Barber won the world title in Beijing in 2015, clearing the 5.90m barrier, before claiming another major international crown at the Pan American Games in Toronto the same year.

His agent, Paul Doyle, announced the death of the Canadian athlete in a message published on Instagram, without giving details about the circumstances of the death.

“A friend I will never forget. Canadian Olympic jumper Sean Barber has died,” wrote his agent on the Instagram page of his company Doyle Management.

Sean Barber still holds the Canadian indoor (6.00m) and outdoor (5.93m) pole vault records.

“Sean was also a finalist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He will be sorely missed,” added Paul Doyle.

The pole vaulter, who held dual US-Canadian citizenship, surprised the world when he managed to win world gold in 2015, aged just 21, ahead of Germany’s Raphael Holzdeppe and French favorite Renault Lavigney.

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