Shawn Barber joins 6-metre club, sets Canadian pole vault record
21-year-old is the youngest to clear that height
World pole vault champion Shawn Barber literally reached new heights on Friday, breaking his own Canadian record with a clearance of six metres at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada.
Barber over 6.00meters. He's calling it a night! <a href="https://t.co/oso9nlxn2D">pic.twitter.com/oso9nlxn2D</a>
—@polevaulteliteFinally 6 meters!!😁 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nike?src=hash">#Nike</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AthleticsCanada">@AthleticsCanada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RBarEnergy">@RBarEnergy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AltiusPoles?src=hash">#AltiusPoles</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PoleVaultSummit">@PoleVaultSummit</a>
—@vaultbarberEarlier in the month, the 21-year-old cleared a 5.88m attempt in Texas and followed that with a 5.70m clearance in Akron, Ohio, one week later.
Barber cleared all of his heights up to and including 5.83m on his first attempts in Reno. Japan's Seito Yamamoto, who cleared 5.77m, was unable to match Barber and exited the competition.
Barber then moved the bar up to 5.94m. On his third attempt, he managed to finally clear the bar, breaking his own Canadian record.
The man was not done yet, though.
Barber sailed over the bar at 6.00m on his first attempt, rewriting his national record.
First attempt at 6.00 meters for Shawn Barber... He makes it!!! First attempt!!! 🇨🇦🎉🇨🇦 <a href="https://twitter.com/AthleticsCanada">@AthleticsCanada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PVS2016?src=hash">#PVS2016</a>
—@polevaultpowerBeing the champion he is, Barber added eight centimetres to his meet record.
Shawn Barber becomes the 19th and youngest man to join the six-metre club and the ninth man to clear that barrier indoors.
With files from The Canadian Press