Education
Boston University.
screenwriter sprinter sportsperson
Boston University.
He had no such reputation for the first event he entered in the inaugural modern Olympic Games in Athens, 1896. He was also noted for his "crouch start", which was uncommon at that time but in standard use now. His time in the final was 12.0 seconds.
In the preliminary heat, he had an even better time – 11.8 seconds.
His times for that event were 58.4 seconds in the preliminary heats and 54.2 seconds in the final, in both of which Burke finished first. Later in his career, Burke specialized in the longer distances, winning IC4A titles in the 440 and 880 yards events.
In 1897, he was one of the initiators of the annually held, inspired by the success of the marathon event at the 1896 Olympics. Burke later became a lawyer, but was also an athletics coach and a part-time journalist, writing for The Boston Journal and the Boston Post.