Spartan Olympics Moment - 1984 Opening Ceremonies
Today's Spartan Olympics Moment zeroes in on one-time school record holder Ed Burke.
Returning to the Olympics at the age of 44 in 1984 after an 18-year hiatus from international competition, San Jose State track and field great Ed Burke entered the Los Angeles Coliseum with the athletes representing the United States.
Ed wasn’t buried in the crowd of hundreds of competitors. Instead, he was at the head of the pack. Voted by team captains to be the country’s flag bearer, he led Team USA around the track in front of a worldwide audience at the Opening Ceremonies.
A three-time Olympian, Burke first competed in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, as a hammer thrower on the track and field team. He finished seventh that year and returned to the Games four years later in Mexico City, Mexico placing 12th.
Burke was a member of the 1960-62 Spartan track and field teams, setting a school record with a throw of 192-feet-3 1/2 in 1962. The record would stand for 16 years.
This year’s Team USA flag bearer is 23-year-old Lopez Lomong. The 1,500-meter middle distance runner and native of Sudan received his U.S. citizenship in 2007.