Joseph Buckland (born 27 October 1992) is an English

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

. With former partner Olivia Smart, he is a three-time

British national The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself (England, Wales, Scotland, and North ...

junior champion (2012–14) and competed at three World Junior Championships, reaching the top ten in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Personal life

Joseph Buckland was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England. He is the younger brother of

Nicholas Buckland Nicholas "Nick" Buckland (born 9 June 1989) is a former English competitive ice dancer who represented Great Britain. With partner Penny Coomes, he is the 2014 European bronze medalist and has won six other international medals. They are also f ...

, who also competes in ice dancing.

Career

Early years

Buckland teamed up with his first partner, Georgia Robinson, at age 15. In 2008, he was diagnosed with two

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running ...

s in his spine, keeping him off the ice for six months. He skated with Danielle Bennett in the 2009–10 season. The two placed 15th at their sole

ISU Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international figure skating competition, junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded ...

event, in Turkey, and became the British national silver medalists on the junior level.

Ice dance with Olivia Smart

Buckland began skating with Olivia Smart in 2010. They made their JGP debut in autumn 2011, ranking 13th in Austria and 12th in Estonia. They came in 17th at their first World Junior Championships, held in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

in March 2012. In the 2012–13 season, the duo missed the JGP series and finished 22nd at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan. In 2013–14, Smart/Buckland placed seventh at both of their JGP assignments, Poland and the Czech Republic, and finished 10th at the 2014 World Junior Championships in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria. Smart/Buckland moved up to the senior level in the 2014–15 season. In October 2014, they placed fourth at the

Ondrej Nepela Trophy The Nepela Memorial () is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted in Bratislava, Slovakia, by the Slovak Figure Skating Association (). The competition debuted in 1993 and is ...

, an

ISU Challenger Series The ISU Challenger Series is a series of international figure skating competitions. Established by the International Skating Union in the 2014–15 figure skating season, 2014–15 season, it is a group of senior-level events ranked below the ISU ...

event. In November, they won silver medals at the

International Cup of Nice International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

and

NRW Trophy The NRW Trophy (also known as the NRW Summer Trophy or the NRW Autumn Trophy) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 2007, it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eisla ...

before taking the British national title in the absence of

Penny Coomes Penny Coomes (born 6 April 1989) is a former English competitive ice dancer who represented Great Britain. With partner Nicholas Buckland, she is the 2014 European Figure Skating Championships bronze medalist and has won six other internatio ...

. Smart/Buckland withdrew from the 2015 European Championships before the short dance, Buckland having fallen ill with

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...

. The duo then went on to place 27th at the 2015 World Championships in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China. They split in June 2015.

Later partnerships

Buckland teamed up with Molly Lanaghan in October 2015. As of October 2016, his skating partner is Robynne Tweedale.

Programs

With Tweedale

Ice dance with Olivia Smart

2012 World Junior FS Olivia Smart Joseph Bucklandn

Competitive highlights

With Tweedale

Ice dance with Olivia Smart

With Bennett

References

External links

*
Olivia Smart & Joseph Buckland
at SkatingScores * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckland, Joseph English male ice dancers 1992 births Living people Figure skaters from Nottingham 21st-century English sportsmen