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Bert Salvatore Bonanno is an American
track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
coach and sports administrator who has produced numerous Olympic champions and world-record holders.


Biography

Bonanno began his coaching career in the 1950s at
San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State Universit ...
as an assistant to Bud Winter (1909–1985), regarded as one of the greatest sprint coaches in the world. He was playing racquetball with Winter at the TAC Annual Meeting when Winter suffered his fatal heart attack, one day before his induction into the
National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
. At San Jose State, Bonanno led the freshmen team to two national track and field championships. He also recruited hammer thrower national champion Ed Burke, who went on to compete in three Olympics and was the flag-bearer for the United States at the
1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an i ...
. From 1964 to 1968, Bonanno was the head coach of the Mexican track and field team. He was one of several foreign coaches—including some from the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
—recruited by the Mexican Olympic Committee to help the host team prepare for the 1968 Olympic Games in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. At the height of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, and with the Olympic Games so close to the US border, the suspicious
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
recruited Bonanno to provide information on the coaches they suspected were undercover agents. Bonanno worked as a liaison between the Mexican officials and 3M in 1968, the year the first artificial track was installed for Olympic competition. "It had been red cinder at the Olympic Games up until then. 3M hired
Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...
to assist them to convince the Mexican Olympic Committee to put that track in," Bonanno said. In 1969, Bonanno became the head coach at
San Jose City College San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1921, and is one of the oldest colleges in the California Community College System. History The college was founded in 1921, opening its doo ...
(SJCC), where he established a world-class track and field program. At the
1976 Olympic Games 1976 Olympics refers to both: *The 1976 Winter Olympics, which were originally to be held in Denver, United States, but relocated to Innsbruck, Austria *The 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of t ...
in Montreal, he coached decathlete
Caitlyn Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner, October 28, 1949), formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yell ...
and sprinter
Millard Hampton Millard Frank Hampton Jr. (born July 8, 1956) is an American former athlete, winner of gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay and the individual silver medal in the 200 meters at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Born in Fresno, California, Millard Hampton was ...
to gold medals. Other outstanding athletes training at SJCC were
Andre Phillips André Lamar Phillips (born September 5, 1959) is a retired American track and field athlete who is best known for winning the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. Phillips spent most of his career in the shadow of his idol ...
, 1988 Olympic champion in hurdles, as well as throwers
Mac Wilkins Mac Maurice Wilkins (born November 15, 1950) is an American athlete, who competed mainly in the discus throw. He was born in Eugene, Oregon and graduated in 1969 from Beaverton High School in Beaverton, Oregon. College Distance running coach Bi ...
,
Al Feuerbach Allan "Al" Dean Feuerbach (born January 14, 1948) is a former American track and field athlete. He competed in the shot put at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and finished in fifth and fourth place, respectively. He missed the 1980 Games due to the b ...
and John Powell, all Olympians and world record holders. Bonanno became dean of athletics at SJCC in 1976. From 1973 to 1996, Bonanno served as director of the Bruce Jenner Classic Track and Field Classic, which grew into one of the top international events. He also co-founded the ''
Mercury News Mercury most commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the closest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a chemical element * Mercury (mythology), a Roman deity Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Mercury (toy manufacturer), ...
'' 10K Race and served as meet director for the 1984 and 1987
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...
held at San Jose City College. He also served as the US coach at the 1981 Pan Pacific Games in Auckland, New Zealand, and the 1989 Indoor World Championships in Athletics in Budapest. He was the head coach for Peru at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, and coached athletes from Hungary, New Zealand and Scotland from the 1970s to 1990s. After 33 years with the college, Bonanno retired from San Jose City College in 2003.


Awards

In 1980, he was the first recipient of the Bud Winter Sportsman of the Year Award. Bonanno was inducted into the
California Community College The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 secti ...
Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1986 and twenty years later, inducted star pupil Millard Hampton into the hall. He was elected into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. San Jose City College also awards the Bert Bonanno Scholar-Athlete Award each year. Bonanno, whose paternal and maternal grandparents emigrated from Italy, also received the Italian American Heritage Foundation Achievement Award in 2004.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonanno, Bert 1940 births Living people American track and field coaches San Jose State Spartans track and field coaches People from Pittsburg, California Sports coaches from California Sportspeople from San Jose, California Track and field people from California