Nicholas Jean Buckfield (born 5 June 1973) is a former

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er from England who competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Biography

During his youth he was a talented footballer, turning down a youth training contract with

Aldershot F.C. Aldershot Football Club was a football club from Aldershot, Hampshire, England, that played in the English Football League from 1932 to 1992. The club was nicknamed ''The Shots'' for both the last syllable of the town name and the military link ...

at the age of 16. He was educated at

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

, where he studied Religious Studies and Sports Sciences. He finished fifth in the 1997 World Championships and narrowly missed out on medals at the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

. Buckfield was a five-times British pole vault champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title in 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003 and 2005. His personal best jump was 5.80 metres, achieved in May 1998 in

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

. This was a British national record, which he held for 14 years until

Steven Lewis Steven James Lewis (born 20 May 1986) is an English former pole vaulter. He won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and his personal best jump of 5.82 metres, set in July 2012, is the former List of British records in athletics, British ...

broke it in 2012. His indoor best was 5.81 metres, achieved in February 2002 in

Bad Segeberg Bad Segeberg (; ) is a German town of 16,000 inhabitants, located in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, capital of the district (Kreis) Segeberg. It is situated approximately northeast of Hamburg, and west of Lübeck. It is famous for its annual ...

. This was also a British national record, and stood for 12 years until it was bettered by Luke Cutts in 2014. His career suffered setbacks due to a series of injuries, fracturing his pelvis whilst competing at the

1998 European Athletics Championships The 17th European Athletics Championships were held from 18 August to 23 August 1998 in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Men's results Track 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Field 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Women's results ...

, suffering an abdominal injury after falling onto his pole at a meeting in

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

in 2004, and sustaining an

Achilles tendon rupture Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult. Rupture of the ...

in 2006. He retired from competition in 2008.

Competition record

References

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gbrathletics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckfield, Nick 1973 births Living people English male pole vaulters British male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games athletes for England Alumni of Brunel University London