Barber takes on top field, including Lavillenie in Olympic pole vault final
Update: Pole vault final was delayed to roughly 9 p.m. ET due to rain.
The men’s pole vault competition at Rio 2016 should come down to a handful of top competitors, including Canada’s world champion, Shawn Barber.
In what is expecting to be cool, windy conditions at the track, Barber must face down the great Renaud Lavillenie of France, the world record holder and defending Olympic champion.
Shawn Barber, Rio 2016.
August 13, 2016, COC Photo/Jason Ransom
The only members of the six metre club in pole vault at Monday night’s final, Barber and Lavillenie met at last year’s world championship in Beijing.
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There, Lavillenie didn’t enter the competition until the 5.80-metre mark, but then unbelievably scratched out at 5.90, having to settle for a bronze in a three-way tie.
Barber started at 5.50, and worked his way up with a clean card to clear 5.90. Even though Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany had jumped the same distance, he did it on his third try as opposed to Barber on his first, and as nobody else in the field could get any higher, the Canadian was awarded gold.
Shawn Barber after winning pole vault gold at IAAF world championships in Beijing on August 24, 2015.
The world championship gold is the only major medal that has eluded 29-year-old Lavillenie. He is the current world leader for 2016 at 5.96. He also holds the world record having cleared a skyscraping 6.16 metres in his career (indoor). No other active pole vaulter even comes close to that mark.
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Lavillenie won the Olympic gold four years ago in London with a jump of 5.97 – a new Games record. His best outdoor mark is 6.05, a height far more reasonable than his indoor feat.
Barber’s highest mark in 2016 is at 5.91 according to IAAF. The only other person who has bested the 22-year-old Canadian this year is Sam Kendricks of the United States in 5.92.
Shawn Barber clears the bar in pole vault at Canadian Olympic trials on July 9, 2016.
The home fans will be getting behind Thiago Braz da Silva, who is a legitimate medal threat for the locals, having cleared 5.90 in 2016 and 5.93 in the season.
Barber and da Silva are the two youngest competitors in the field. The Canadian is just six months junior to the Brazilian.
Pole vault final takes place on Monday at 7:35 p.m. ET.
Update: Pole vault final was delayed to roughly 9 p.m. ET due to rain.
