Santa Barbara resident and two-time Olympic gold medalist Craig Buck suffered major head trauma in a bicycling accident Monday afternoon in Hope Ranch.
Buck, a 6’9” middle blocker on the U.S. men’s indoor volleyball team that won gold in 1984 and 1988, was riding southbound on Monte Drive at around 12:20 p.m. when, according to a CHP report, he “cut the corner, driving on the wrong side of the roadway, while failing to stop at a posted stop sign, and entered the westbound lane of Estrella Drive.” Buck hit the right side of a pickup truck travelling westbound on Estrella and was thrown from his bike. He was not wearing a helmet at the time. CHP officials said Buck, 57, was transported to Cottage Hospital, where he is being treated for his injuries.
In addition to his Olympic victories, Buck helped the U.S. team win the 1986 men’s volleyball World Championships in Paris. He was a teammate of Santa Barbara’s Karch Kiraly.