Nick Buckfield

{{Short description|British athlete}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Nick Buckfield | image = | image_size =  | caption = | nationality = British (English) | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|6|5|df=yes}} | birth_place = Crawley, West Sussex, England | death_date = | death_place = | sport = Athletics | event = Pole vault | height = 185 cm | weight = 77.5 kg | club = Crawley AC }}

'''Nicholas Jean Buckfield''' (born 5 June 1973) is a former pole vaulter from England who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics.<ref name=oly>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/68922 |title=Biographical Information |website=Olympedia |access-date=9 July 2025}}</ref>

== Biography == During his youth he was a talented footballer, turning down a youth training contract with Aldershot F.C. at the age of 16.<ref name=indy /> He was educated at Brunel University London, where he studied Religious Studies and Sports Sciences.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Brunel-athletes-head-for-Melbourne |title=Brunel athletes head for Melbourne |author= |date=3 February 2006 |website=Brunel University London |access-date=23 January 2019 |archive-date=24 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041610/https://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/Brunel-athletes-head-for-Melbourne |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He finished fifth in the 1997 World Championships and narrowly missed out on medals at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.<ref name=argus>{{cite web |url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/3623769.buckfield-bows-out-with-regrets/ |title=Buckfield bows out with regrets |last=Hollis |first=Steve |date=26 August 2008 |website=The Argus (Brighton) |access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref>

Buckfield was a five-times British pole vault champion after winning the British AAA Championships title in 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003 and 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=9 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/aaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (men) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=9 July 2025}}</ref>

His personal best jump was 5.80 metres, achieved in May 1998 in Chania. This was a British national record, which he held for 14 years until Steven Lewis broke it in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/18945145 |title=London 2012: Steven Lewis breaks British pole vault record |author= |date=22 July 2012 |website=bbc.co.uk|access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref> His indoor best was 5.81 metres, achieved in February 2002 in Bad Segeberg. This was also a British national record, and stood for 12 years until it was bettered by Luke Cutts in 2014.<ref name=indy /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/25910904 |title=Luke Cutts & John Lane set new British records |author= |date=27 January 2014 |website=bbc.co.uk |access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref>

His career suffered setbacks due to a series of injuries, fracturing his pelvis whilst competing at the 1998 European Athletics Championships,<ref name=indy>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics-buckfield-lifts-britain-out-of-the-pole-vault-wilderness-9132951.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220619/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics-buckfield-lifts-britain-out-of-the-pole-vault-wilderness-9132951.html |archive-date=19 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Athletics: Buckfield lifts Britain out of the pole vault wilderness |last=Turnbull |first=Simon |date=20 February 2002 |website=independent.co.uk |access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref> suffering an abdominal injury after falling onto his pole at a meeting in Cottbus in 2004,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/3794307.stm |title=Buckfield in hospital |author= |date=10 June 2004 |website=bbc.co.uk|access-date=3 February 2019}}</ref> and sustaining an Achilles tendon rupture in 2006. He retired from competition in 2008.<ref name=argus />

== Competition record == {| {{AchievementTable}} |- !colspan="6"|Representing {{GBR2}} and {{ENG}} |- |1992 |World Junior Championships |Seoul, South Korea |12th |4.90 m |- |1994 |Commonwealth Games |Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |8th |5.20 m |- |1995 |World Championships |Gothenburg, Sweden |17th (q) |5.55 m |- |rowspan=2|1996 |European Indoor Championships |Stockholm, Sweden |7th |5.55 m |- |Olympic Games |Atlanta, United States |21st (q) |5.40 m |- |1997 |World Championships |Athens, Greece |5th |5.70 m |- |rowspan=2|1998 |European Indoor Championships |Valencia, Spain |17th (q) |5.55 m |- |European Championships |Budapest, Hungary |17th (q) |5.30 m |- |1999 |World Indoor Championships |Maebashi, Japan | – |NM |- |2001 |World Championships |Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |22nd (q) |5.30 m |- |rowspan=2|2002 |European Indoor Championships |Vienna, Austria |14th (q) |5.40 m |- |Commonwealth Games |Manchester, United Kingdom |4th |5.50 m |- |2003 |World Championships |Paris, France |21st (q) |5.50 m |- |2004 |Olympic Games |Athens, Greece |21st (q) |5.60 m |- |2005 |European Indoor Championships |Madrid, Spain |15th (q) |5.40 m |- |2006 |Commonwealth Games |Melbourne, Australia |4th |5.35 m |}

== References == {{Reflist}} *{{World Athletics}} *[http://www.gbrathletics.com/uk/mindex.pdf gbrathletics]

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