Ben's a two-time Olympian

MYRTLEFORD product Ben Buckingham has been named in Australia’s athletics squad for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, his second trip to the biggest stage on Earth. Buckingham, 32, was selected in the 75-member athletics squad as one of two Aussie men set to contest the 3000m steeplechase. After running a 8:20.95 at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, a personal best at the time and fourth-fasted in Australian history, Buckingham narrowly missed out on a finals berth, coming 22nd overall. It’s been a long road back to the sports’ heights, with a series of injuries hampering progress since his last Olympics. Buckingham missed nationals with a femur stress reaction and a knee injury over the summer of 2021-22, but rebounded to post his current PB of 8:19.79 in Europe, before solid runs at the world championships (ninth) and Birmingham Commonwealth Games (fifth). After claiming his first national title in 2023, injuries again reared up, with osteitis pubis symptoms and later bone stress issues, but Buckingham bounced back with second place at the Oceania Championships in June 2024 with a time of 8:44, followed by an 8:21.34 just two weeks later in Finland. Buckingham said it was rewarding to be chosen for his second Olympics appearance after the setbacks he’s overcome. “It was a great sense of relief, because I’ve been really up against it this year,” he said. “I didn’t really get running again until January, and with an Olympics in August and qualifications ending in June meant I was on quite a tight timeframe. “I was OK domestically but I had to have a really big run in Europe which I managed to do at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku which is about two hours outside of Helsinki, I did that on June 18. “The funny thing was everyone was saying ‘that’ll get you in, you’ll qualify’ but it’s not actually really until you get the call. “You’re incredibly lucky if you get to one, and I’m very lucky I get to go to two." Qualifications for the 3000m steeplechase final at the Olympics has changed since Tokyo, from based purely on the fastest times overall through the heats, to the first five across the line in each heats. Buckingham said he was feeling good about his running and hoped to perform well come Paris. “The body’s good, I ran a second-and-a-half off my PB in England in mid-June, and I’m getting fitter since then - I’ll be at the equivalent to the best shape I’ve ever been in, so that’s really exciting,” he said. “It’s ruthless but I’m also looking forward to it, because you only get two or three chances in your life to line up against the best guys in the world, and I’m looking forward to it.” Ben Buckingham takes to the track in the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with the first round of heats starting on Monday, August 5.

Ben's a two-time Olympian

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