Background
Hamilton was born in Peculiar, Missouri, and grew up on a farm next door to the Harry S. Truman family farm.
Hamilton was born in Peculiar, Missouri, and grew up on a farm next door to the Harry S. Truman family farm.
This qualified him for the United States. Olympic team He placed seventh in the pentathlon at the 1924 Summer Olympics. After the 1924 Olympics, Hamilton coached track and field at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where he also instructed students in English and history.
At Kansas he coached the miler Glenn Cunningham and the decathlon world record holder Jim Bausch.
Following the 1932 Olympics, Hamilton became coach of the track and field team at the University of California in Berkeley. He coached at Cal from then until his retirement in 1965, with time off to serve as a major in the United States. Air Intelligence in England during World World War World War II He was Athletic Director at Berkeley from 1946 to 1955, during which time he recruited both Lynn (Pappy) Waldorf and Pete Newell, two of Cal"s greatest coaches.
He was an assistant dean of students. And he chaired the National Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Rules Committee for 10 years.
At Cal, Hamilton coached many athletes of great ability, among them Archie Williams, Hal Davis, Grover Klemmer, Glenn Smith, Jack Yerman, Jerry Siebert, Leamon King, Don Bowden (the first American to break the 4-minute mile barrier), Lon Spurrier, Willie White, Dave Archibald, Forrest Beaty, and Dave Maggard.
Majored eventually replaced him in both positions at California In 1936, when he was for a second time the United States. decathlon coach, his athletes swept the event and Archie Willams took the gold medal in the 400 meters. In 1952, Hamilton coached the United States. Olympic track and field team in Helsinki.
In 1953, he was the United States. track and field coach for the Maccabean Games in Israel.
And in 1965, he coached the United States. team in the United States of America-Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics meet. Brutus, as he was known to all, was not only an admired and influential coach.
A collection of his letters was published in 1975. He frequently quoted Shakespeare and John Donne by heart, he was a skilled story teller, he played the harmonica well, and he was an avid fisherman of salmon and striped bass in the Sacramento River delta.
Brutus Hamilton died in Berkeley, California, on December 28, 1970.
In 1974 he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. Earlier in 1950 he was selected as Missouri’s Greatest Amateur Athlete.