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Sketch cover featuring Lord Burghley in action

Sketch cover featuring Lord Burghley in action


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Sketch cover featuring Lord Burghley in action

Lord Burghley, captain of Britains Olympic team in 1932 jumping hurdles in a photograph on the front cover of The Sketch. David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter (1905 - 1981), Lord Burghley was an athlete, sports official and Conservative party politician As an athlete, Burghley was a very keen practitioner who placed matchboxes on hurdles and practised knocking over the matchboxes with his lead foot without touching the hurdle. In 1927, his final year at Magdalene College, Cambridge, he amazed colleagues by sprinting around the Great Court at Trinity College in the time it took the college clock to toll 12 o clock, inspiring the scene in the film Chariots of Fire (whose character Lord Andrew Lindsay is based upon Burghley) in which Harold Abrahams accomplishes the same feat. Lord Burghley did not allow his name to be used in the film because of the inaccurate historical depiction in the movie. There was never a race upon which Harold Abrahams beat Lord Burghley in this feat as the movie depicts. Burghley is also said to have set another unusual record by racing around the upper promenade deck of the Queen Mary in 57 seconds, dressed in everyday clothes. Burghley later served as president of the Amateur Athletic Association for 40 years, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation for 30 years and as a member of the International Olympic Committee for 48 years. He was also chairman of the Organising Committee of the 1948 Summer Olympics. Date: 1932

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Media ID 14351951

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

1932 Angeles Aristocrat Aristocratic Aristocrats Athlete Athletic Athletics Burghley Cecil Chariots Exeter Hurdles Marquess Olympic Olympics Sporting Sportsman Sportsmen Hurdler


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> Europe > United Kingdom > England > London > Art > Film

> Europe > United Kingdom > England > London > Royalty

> Europe > United Kingdom > England > London > Sport > Athletics

> Europe > United Kingdom > England > London > Sport > Olympics

> Europe > United Kingdom > England > London > Sports > Olympics > 1948

> People > Politicians


EDITORS COMMENTS
Lord Burghley, the Athletic Noble: A Rare Sketch Cover Image of the 6th Marquess of Exeter in Action at the 1932 Olympics This evocative sketch cover image captures the dashing figure of David George Brownlow Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter, better known as Lord Burghley, in mid-leap over a hurdle during his tenure as captain of Great Britain's Olympic team in 1932. The image, published on the front cover of The Sketch, showcases Lord Burghley's athletic prowess and determination, as he prepares to clear the hurdle with grace and agility. Burghley, a polymath who excelled in athletics, sports administration, and Conservative politics, was a keen practitioner who honed his skills by placing matchboxes on hurdles and practicing to knock them over with his lead foot without touching the actual hurdle. In 1927, during his final year at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Burghley stunned his peers by sprinting around the Great Court at Trinity College in the time it took the college clock to toll 12 o'clock. This remarkable feat inspired the iconic scene in the film "Chariots of Fire," in which Lord Andrew Lindsay (based on Burghley) accomplishes the same feat. Despite the inaccuracies in the film's historical depiction, Lord Burghley's athletic achievements extended beyond the realm of legend. He set another unusual record by racing around the upper promenade deck of the Queen Mary in 57 seconds, dressed in everyday clothes. Burghley's commitment to athletics extended far beyond his personal accomplishments, as he served as president of the Amateur Athletic Association for 40 years, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation for 30 years, and as a member of the International Olympic Committee for 48 years. He also chaired the Organising Committee of the 1948 Summer Olympics. This rare sketch cover image offers a captivating glimpse into the life of Lord Burghley, the athletic noble, who left an indelible mark on British athletics and Olympic history.

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