Burke made his first US Olympic team in 2006, and came quite close to achieving his first World Cup points (the Olympics being part of the Biathlon World Cup), placing 35th in the sprint and 36th in the following pursuit. However, his moment of international attention came as Jay Hakkinen surprisingly brought the US team to the first exchange in first place. Burke, on the second leg, thus had the honour of leading the Olympic relay. However, this did not last long, as US dropped to 8th place on Burke's leg with him needing all three spare rounds in both shootings; they eventually finished 9th.