BEIJING — Growing up on the family farm in New Mexico, pole vaulting was a game to Shawn Barber, like road hockey or hopscotch — a chance to compete against his brother Braden and an excuse to stay out late on hot summer nights.
That pure love of the sport has never left the 21-year-old Canadian, and at the world track and field championships Monday, he drew on every bit of it to win gold — Canada’s first at the worlds in more than a decade.
“You’re going to have nerves coming into a big meet like this, but my whole goal was to keep my head down and make sure I remembered to breathe, and that’s the biggest thing for me,” Barber said. “And have some fun out there. Enjoy yourself. You only get to do this every once in a while.”
Barber was the only jumper to clear 5.90 metres on his first attempt, which was good enough for gold in a star-studded field. Defending champion Raphael Holzdeppe captured silver.
Renaud Lavillenie of France, the world record-holder and an Olympic gold medallist, shared the bronze with Pawel Wojciechowski and Piotr Lisek, both of Poland.
The medal is Canada’s fourth of the competition and the country’s first ever in pole vault. It was Canada’s first gold since Perdita Felicien won the 100-metre hurdles in 2003 in Paris.
Barber, who calls Toronto his hometown but grew up in the U.S., competes for Canada partly because his dad George did, including at the 1983 world championships. The Canadian-born George Barber gave Shawn his first sawed-off pole at the age of four. The Barber boys would leap irrigation ditches on the family farm before George installed a proper pit, under the cover of an old airport hangar.
Asked if he ever dreamed of a world medal, Barber said: “No way.
“I didn’t even know it was a sport until a couple of years into it, I was just doing it for fun. It’s a great past-time for me so far, and for me to be able to come out here and showcase these talents to everybody is a great experience.”
The six-foot-two redhead laid down an impeccable performance at the Bird’s Nest Stadium, clearing every height on his first attempt. Barber and Holzdeppe, the only other jumper over 5.90, then missed on all three attempts at 6.00.
The senior Barber still coaches his son, who is coming off an NCAA title in his senior season at Akron University, and a gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto. George leaned against the railing in the front row of seats Monday, coaching in a language of hand gestures that the two are well-versed in.
While George had a sneaking suspicion his son could be great — clearing 3.20 at age 10 and 5.55 by the end of Grade 12 were big clues — neither he nor his son saw this coming so soon.
Barber won bronze at last summer’s Commonwealth Games, but has been the picture of consistency, rewriting his Canadian record so many times, he’s lost track of the number. It currently stands at 5.93.
“I think it’s a surprise to me and to a lot of people that I’m here and especially in such a technical sport as pole vault, that takes quite a while to mature,” said Barber — who could realistically compete for another decade, at least. “I think it’s just makes people excited for the future and excited for the next couple of years.”
Victory or not, the goal has never wavered. It’s a game to the Barbers.
“The big thing is to keep him healthy, keep him improving, and keep him having fun,” said George, who paced impatiently for nearly an hour in the media interview area before being able to congratulate his son.
George Barber still competes, including at this year’s Canadian championships, where he competed alongside his son, clearing 3.80. He hastily added, he cleared 4.05 a couple of weeks later. The competition keeps it fun.
“I compete against him on just about everything whenever we’re training. But now he has to spot me two metres,” said George — they’ll wager things like dinner on a victory.
“Generally he just doesn’t like to lose, so we don’t even need to have any side bets,” George said.
Barber was clearly enjoying Monday night, cheering on his fellow competitors while they tried to top him.
“It’s very important to have a positive mindset about the performance of your competitors, and to wish them well and hope they share the same sentiment with me, and wish me the best as well,” Barber said.
Elsewhere, Matt Hughes of Oshawa, Ont., was eighth in the men’s 3,000-metre steeplechase, in a season’s best time of eight minutes 18.63 seconds.
“I knew I was ready for a good one, it’s disappointing when training indicates you’re in great shape,” Hughes said. “I just know that so much hard work went into the season, my training was better than 2013 and 2014, I’m in personal-best shape, knocking on the door of 8:05. Just didn’t have it today.”
Lanni Marchant of London, Ont., the Canadian record-holder in the women’s marathon, was 18th in the 10,000 metres, while Natasha Wodak of Vancouver was 23rd.