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.
Biography During his youth he was a talented footballer, turning down a youth training contract with Aldershot F.C. at the age of 16. He was educated at Brunel University London, 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 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Buckfield was a five-times British pole vault champion after winning the British AAA Championships title in 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003 and 2005.
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. 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.
His career suffered setbacks due to a series of injuries, fracturing his pelvis whilst competing at the 1998 European Athletics Championships, suffering an abdominal injury after falling onto his pole at a meeting in Cottbus in 2004, and sustaining an Achilles tendon rupture in 2006. He retired from competition in 2008.
Competition record Representing and 1992World Junior Championships Seoul, South Korea12th4.90 m1994Commonwealth Games Victoria, British Columbia, Canada8th5.20 m1995World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden17th (q)5.55 m1996European Indoor ChampionshipsStockholm, Sweden7th5.55 mOlympic Games Atlanta, United States21st (q)5.40 m1997World Championships Athens, Greece5th5.70 m1998European Indoor ChampionshipsValencia, Spain17th (q)5.55 mEuropean ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary17th (q)5.30 m1999World Indoor ChampionshipsMaebashi, Japan –NM2001World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Alberta, Canada22nd (q)5.30 m2002European Indoor ChampionshipsVienna, Austria14th (q)5.40 mCommonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom4th5.50 m2003World ChampionshipsParis, France21st (q)5.50 m2004Olympic Games Athens, Greece21st (q)5.60 m2005European Indoor ChampionshipsMadrid, Spain15th (q)5.40 m2006Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia4th5.35 m
References
gbrathletics