Ben Buckingham (born 8 November 1991) is an Australian

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who specializes in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

Early years

Buckingham grew up on a 600-acre cattle farm and started serious running at the age of 10 with his mother. When he was 18 years of age he left his hometown of

Myrtleford Myrtleford is a town in northeast Victoria, Australia, 280 km (170 miles) northeast of Melbourne and 46 km (29 miles) southeast of Wangaratta. Myrtleford is part of the Alpine Shire local government area and in 2016 the town had a po ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to go to the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. Buckingham continued his running and came third in the 2010 National U20 steeplechase. Buckingham made his international debut at the 2010

World Mountain Running Championships The World Mountain Running Championships (''World Mountain Running Trophy'' until 2008), is an international mountain running competition contested by athletes of the members of WMRA, World Mountain Running Association, the sport's global governing ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, competing in the junior race. After completing his studies he ran 8:03 (3000m) and 8:54 (steeple) and was placed third in the national championships in the summer of 2016.2017. In 2019 he dropped to 7:54.00 (3000m) and 8:27.51 (steeple) and won the Oceania Championships.

Achievements

Buckingham completed his second degree (Juris Doctor/law and Arts - history/international relations) at the age of 25 in 2016. He trained full time for six months before starting work as a

Lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

Minter Ellison MinterEllison is a multinational law firm, and professional services firm, based in Australia. The firm has fifteen offices and operates in five countries. By number of lawyers it is the largest law firm in Australia. History MinterEllison is ...

. Buckingham won the gold medal in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2019 Oceania Athletics Championships held in Townsville, Australia. He also competed in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

held in Doha, Qatar. He did not qualify to compete in the final. In 2020, Buckingham headed to Europe where he clocked two 8:24s with a best of 8:24.39 to move to sixth Australian all-time. Buckingham qualified for the men's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

held in Tokyo, Japan. He ran seventh in the Men's 3000m steeplechase heat with a time of 8:20.95, missing out on the final.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckingham, Ben Living people 1991 births Place of birth missing (living people) Australian male steeplechase runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Oceanian Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia 21st-century Australian people