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Cal Track: ‘What Would Brutus Hamilton Do?’ Still Resonates Decades Later

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SI | CalSportsReport:

In my conversations over the years with Don Bowden, the first American to run a sub-4-minute mile invariably invokes the name of Brutus Hamilton, his long-ago Cal coach.

Bowden’s tone is always closer to reverence than merely respect. Hamilton is a man from a different era. Born in 1900 in the town of Peculiar, Missouri, he attended Mizzou and just missed winning a gold medal in the decathlon at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics — 100 years ago last weekend. He returned to compete at the ’24 Games, coached at Kansas, then led the Bears’ program for 33 years. He coached the U.S. Olympic track team at Helsinki in 1952 and, as Cal’s athletic director, hired Pappy Waldorf and Pete Newell.

Cal Track: `What Would Brutus Hamilton Do?' Still Resonates Decades Later
Cal Track: `What Would Brutus Hamilton Do?' Still Resonates Decades Later

Through two World Wars and two Olympics, Brutus Hamilton kept finding ways to contribute
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