| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British (English) |
| Born | 5 June 1973 Crawley, West Sussex, England |
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 77.5 kg (171 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Pole vault |
| 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. [1]
During his youth he was a talented footballer, turning down a youth training contract with Aldershot F.C. at the age of 16. [2] He was educated at Brunel University London, where he studied Religious Studies and Sports Sciences. [3]
He finished fifth in the 1997 World Championships and narrowly missed out on medals at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. [4]
Buckfield was a five-times British pole vault champion after winning the British AAA Championships title in 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003 and 2005. [5] [6]
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. [7] 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. [2] [8]
His career suffered setbacks due to a series of injuries, fracturing his pelvis whilst competing at the 1998 European Athletics Championships, [2] suffering an abdominal injury after falling onto his pole at a meeting in Cottbus in 2004, [9] and sustaining an Achilles tendon rupture in 2006. He retired from competition in 2008. [4]
