[1] At 16, Bickle was "volunteered" to contest an F-grade pole vault event at his local athletics club by his coach.

In the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth at Perry Lakes Stadium, he won the gold medal with a vault of 14 ft 9 in (4.50 m).

[2] In Jamaica four years later at 1966 Games he won again, retaining the Commonwealth title with a vault of 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)[3] – his best competition result.

Bickle retired from competition in 1967 when he represented the Commonwealth of Nations against the United States in Los Angeles.

In 1965 he played a single game for South Fremantle in the West Australian Football League.