Jon Bowerman - U.S. women’s Olympic Alpine coach

Jon Bowerman, head U.S. women’s Alpine Olympic coach in the mid-1970s, passed on October 19, 2024, at his ranch near Antelope, Oregon. He was 86.

Son of Bill Bowerman, 10th Mountain veteran, Nike co-founder and track coach for the University of Oregon and the 1972 U.S. Olympic track team, Jon enlisted in the U.S. Marines after graduating from high school and trained clandestine units in Central America, Laos and Cambodia. In 1963, Bowerman was honorably discharged from the Marines and enrolled at the University of Oregon, where he studied foreign languages. After graduation he collected specimens in Ecuador’s Amazon region under a National Science Foundation grant, then purchased a ranch in Fossil, Oregon. In 1975, at age 37, he began competing in rodeos, quitting in 1979 when he broke his neck.

Bowerman was the coach of the 1976 U.S. women’s Olympic Alpine team.

He also coached world champions in rodeo, a baseball team in Honduras and a local high school track team.