Nick Buckfield

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| nationality = English

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|6|5|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Crawley, West Sussex

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| sport = Athletics

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| club = Crawley AC

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Nicholas ("Nick") Jean Buckfield (born 5 June 1973) is an English former pole vaulter.

Athletics career

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.{{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}} He finished fifth in the 1997 World Championships and narrowly missed out on medals at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.{{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}} His career suffered setbacks due to a series of injuries, fracturing his pelvis whilst competing at the 1998 European Athletics Championships,{{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}} suffering an abdominal injury after falling onto his pole at a meeting in Cottbus in 2004,{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/3794307.stm |title=Buckfield in hospital |author= |date=10 June 2004 |website=bbc.co.uk|access-date=3 February 2019}} and sustaining an Achilles tendon rupture in 2006. He retired from competition in 2008.

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.{{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}} 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.{{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}}

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

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