David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter

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David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter : biography

9 February 1905 – 22 October 1981

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.

As an IOC member and president of the IAAF, Burghley presented the medals for the 200m at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 and appeared in some famous images of the Black Power salute of Tommie Smith and John Carlos.; Sports Journalists’ Association 2 March 2012 When later asked what he had thought of the gloves, he said: "I thought they had hurt their hand." The Guardian 8 February 2012

In 1951, while in Eastbourne, his doctor was John Bodkin Adams the suspected serial killer.Cullen, Pamela V., A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams, London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, p. 81. ISBN 1-904027-19-9

Great Court Run

One scene in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire recreates a race in which the runners attempt to round the perimeter of the Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge in the time it takes the clock to double strike the hour at midday or midnight. Many have tried to run the around the court in the 43.6 seconds that it takes to strike 12 o’clock. Known as the Great Court Run, students traditionally attempt to complete the circuit on the evening of the Matriculation Dinner. The only people recognized to have actually completed the run in time are Lord Burghley in 1927 and Sam Dobin in 2007: contrary to the film, Harold Abrahams never attempted this race.

Politician

Burghley was a member of the Conservative and Unionist Party and served as MP for Peterborough from 1931 until 1943. He was first elected in the 1931 General Election, when he ousted the sitting Labour MP J. F. Horrabin. Burghley was returned to the House of Commons again in the 1935 General Election. Burghley resigned his Commons seat in 1943 when he was appointed Governor of Bermuda, a post in which he served until 1945.