Barber doesn’t see choice as ‘big deal’
OTTAWA— World champion pole vaulter Shawn Barber is one of a handful of men in history who has jumped six metres. He’s also one of the few men to announce he is gay during the peak of his athletic career.
But he’d much rather be talking about his plans to get back to his world-winning heights than his personal life.
“It’s something that shouldn’t be a big deal,” Barber said, right after winning the Canadian championships.
Barber posted “Gay and proud!” on social media in April. He spoke publicly about that decision for the first time Sunday.
“It’s a personal choice, it shouldn’t be so heavily debated,” he said.
The 23-year-old Barber, a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, said he was “fortunate to live in the countries that I live in. Because of that I’m able to be a bit more fearless in my actions. A lot of people don’t have the fortunate opportunities that I have and I’m very grateful for that.”
In the final event of the Canadian track and field championships, Barber jumped 5.40 metres to clinch the Canadian pole vault title and secure his trip to the world championships in London next month.
The conditions were far from ideal — it was pouring rain, making the pole slippery and the soaked jumpers feel like they were wearing weighted vests — but that’s still not a particularly good height for him. Barber would much rather be in the 5.80 range at this point in the season and he has a heavy competition schedule planned for the coming weeks to work through some changes to his jump style that he’s hoping, ultimately, will result in greater heights than ever.
“In track and field, you go through ups and downs, especially in the pole vault. I think I’ve seen some of those this year but I’m healthy . . . and I know I have a good training model going into the world championships.”
Barber was talking about his sport but “ups and downs” is an apt description of some of what he’s been through in life this past year, too.
He tested positive for cocaine at the Canadian championships last year and didn’t know if he would compete in the Olympics until two days before his event. He finished a disappointing 10th.
The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada accepted Barber’s testimony that he inadvertently ingested the banned substance while kissing a woman he met online through an ad on Craigslist. The incident became public last October when the sport court’s decision was released at the end of the appeal period. Barber gets asked a lot if he’s happy. “Life is ups and downs, pole vault is ups and downs, and I’m just along for the ride . . . and I’m enjoying every minute of it,” he said.