Bert Bonanno

Bert Bonanno
Bonanno, left, in 2006 with former protégé Millard Hampton, 1976 Olympic gold medalist
Born	Bert Salvatore Bonanno (1935-01-30) January 30, 1935 (age 82) Pittsburg, California
Nationality	American
Occupation	track and field coach, sports administrator

Bert Bonanno (born January 30, 1935) is a retired American track and field coach and sports administrator who has produced numerous Olympic champions and world-record holders.

Bonanno began his coaching career in the 1950s at San Jose State College 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.

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.

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—recruited by the Mexican Olympic Committee to help the host team prepare for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. At the height of the Cold War, and with the Olympic Games so close to the U.S. border, the suspicious Central Intelligence Agency 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 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 (SJCC), where he established a world-class track and field program. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, he coached decathlete Caitlyn Jenner (then Bruce Jenner) and sprinter Millard Hampton to gold medals. Other outstanding athletes training at SJCC were Andre Phillips, 1988 Olympic champion in hurdles, as well as throwers Mac Wilkins, Al Feuerbach and John Powell, all Olympians and world record holders.