Trevor Sydney Bickle (born 17 July 1943 in

Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

) is a former Western Australian athlete and Commonwealth

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

champion.''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. Previously, if elite athletes from Western Australian needed to train or ...

At 16, Bickle was "volunteered" to contest an F-grade pole vault event at his local athletics club by his coach. He won the event and went on to a highly successful international career in the sport. In the

1962 Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. T ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

Perry Lakes Stadium Perry Lakes Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium adjacent to Perry Lakes in Floreat, Western Australia. It was built and funded by the State Government and the City of Perth in 1962 for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and had ...

, he won the gold medal with a vault of . In

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

four years later at 1966 Games he won again, retaining the Commonwealth title with a vault of - his best competition result. He won Australian titles in 1963, 1966 and 1967 but was unlucky to miss selection for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when he broke his pole in the selection trials. Bickle retired from competition in 1967 when he represented the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In 1989 Bickle was inducted into the

Western Australian Hall of Champions In 1983, the Sportswriters' Association of Western Australia proposed a Western Australian Hall of Champions to honour past athletes from the state who had made a significant impact in their sport. The Government of Western Australia asked the th ...

References

1943 births Australian male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Track and field athletes from Western Australia Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners South Fremantle Football Club players Living people 20th-century Australian people Sportspeople from Fremantle Sportsmen from Western Australia Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games {{Australia-athletics-bio-stub