British star Lucy Buckingham is set for an enforced spell on the sidelines due to a herniated disc in her back.

The 30-year-old, currently ranked #25 by the PTO has not been seen on course since being part of Nicola Spirig’s Sub8 pacing in Germany in early June.

Buckingham reveals injury

And on Saturday night she took to social media to reveal that we won’t be seeing her for a little while longer.

Lucy explained: “3 weeks ago I strained my back running. An MRI scan revealed that I have a herniated disc in my lower back, that is also pressing on a major nerve root.

“That said, Unfortunately I won’t be on the racing scene for a little while to allow optimum recovery.”

The injury will be hugely frustrating for Buckingham, who has been the absolute model of consistency since triathlon really started to emerge from the COVID pandemic in 2021.

A model of consistency

She put in a string of terrific performances last year, including victory at Challenge Family’s The Championship in Samorin and a gallant second at CLASH Daytona.

Buckingham started 2022 in similar style with fourth in a high-class field at IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote before podiums at Challenge Gran Canaria and The Championship again.

Lucy’s most recent race (outside of her Sub8 involvement) was victory at Challenge St Polten in Austria in late May.