Canada’s Barber falls short at worlds
23-year-old pole vaulter from Toronto can’t repeat magic from Beijing in 2015
LONDON — Shawn Barber will be leaving the world track and field championships empty-handed.
The Canadian pole vaulter failed to defend his gold medal Tuesday after missing all three attempts at 5.75 metres.
The 23-year-old from Toronto won gold two years ago in Beijing.
He has been inconsistent this season, as he has tinkered with his jumping style. He arrived in London with the 16th best jump in the world of 5.72 metres.
He missed his first attempt at 5.50 metres and needed three tries to clear 5.65.
The last two years have presented challenges for Barber, who had a disastrous competition at last summer’s Rio Olympics as he struggled in heavy wind and rain en route to a 10th-place finish.
A few months later, news broke he had tested positive for cocaine before the Olympics, but was spared a suspension when an independent arbitrator ruled Barber accidentally ingested the drug. Barber said it happened while he was kissing a woman.
Barber’s Canadian record is 5.93 metres, which he set in 2015.
Elsewhere, Matt Hughes of Oshawa, Ont., was sixth in the 3,000-metre steeplechase while Brandon McBride of Windsor, Ont., was eighth in the men’s 800.
On the women’s side, Vancouver’s Liz Gleadle was 12th in the women’s javelin while Sage Watson of Medicine Hat, Alta., qualified for the final in the women’s 400-metre hurdles and Toronto’s Crystal Emmanuel qualified for the semifinals in the women’s 200 metres.
Meanwhile, Sam Kendricks of the United States was clean through the first five jumps in the pole vault and later was the only one to scale 5.95 metres to win gold. Piotr Lisek of Poland took silver with a jump of 5.89, edging world-record holder Renaud Lavillenie of France on a countback.
Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa successfully defended his world title in the 400 metres, adding to his Olympic gold and world record. Medal favourite Isaac Makwala of Botswana was kept out of the race because of a stomach virus even though he insisted he had fully recovered.
Pierre-Ambroise Bosse of France earned the upset of the evening when he took the lead with 200 metres to go in the 800-metre final and hung on for gold.
Conseslus Kipruto secured Ken- ya another gold medal in the steeplechase with an unmatchable kick during the final 300 metres.
Kipruto easily held off Soufiane El Bakkali to win in eight minutes, 14.12 seconds, .37 seconds ahead of the Moroccan.
Barbora Spotakova, 36, of the Czech Republic won the gold medal in the javelin a decade after she claimed her last world title.