David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, KCMGKStJ (9 February 1905 – 21 October 1981),[3] styled Lord Burghley before 1956 and also known as David Burghley, was an English athlete, sports official, peer, and Conservative Party politician. He won the gold medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 1928 Summer Olympics.[1]
The Marquess of Exeter (in red blazer) in the foreground after presenting the medals for the 200 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics
A notable runner at school and at Cambridge, he continued with his athletics and won the British AAA championships in 120 yd from 1929 to 1931 and the 440 yd (400 m) hurdles from 1926 to 1928, and again in 1930 and 1932.
As an IOC member and president of the IAAF, Burghley presented the medals for the 200 m at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 and appeared in some famous images of the Black Power salute given by Tommie Smith and John Carlos.[8] When later asked what he had thought of the gloves, he said: "I thought they had hurt their hand."[9]
Hon. John William Edward Cecil (1 June 1933 – 6 Jul 1934).[10]
Lady Gillian Moyra Katherine Cecil (8 March 1935 - 17 June 2022),[10] married Sir Giles Henry Charles Floyd, 7th Baronet on 23 November 1954.[14] They divorced in 1978.[15]
He married secondly on 12 December 1946,[10] Diana Mary Henderson (10 January 1911 – 6 June 1982),[16] granddaughter of Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon,[1] and widow of Lt.-Col. David Walter Arthur William Forbes.[10] They had one daughter:
In June 1927, in his final year at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Burghley sprinted around Great Court at Trinity College at midnight in the time it took the college clock to toll 12 o'clock. This inspired the scene in the film Chariots of Fire in which Harold Abrahams accomplishes the same feat. The character Lord Andrew Lindsay in Chariots of Fire, played by Nigel Havers, is based upon Burghley, but he did not allow his name to be used because of the inaccurate historical depiction in the film. There was never a race in which Abrahams beat Burghley in this feat as the film suggests; in fact, Abrahams never attempted the Great Court Run.[17]
Burghley was the first[dubious – discuss] to run the 367 metres (401 yards) around the court in the 43.6 seconds that it takes the clock to strike 12 o'clock. Known as the Great Court Run, students traditionally attempted to complete the circuit on the night of the Matriculation Dinner. In modern times the run is attempted at noon.[17]
^Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), p. 66.
