Jenner, Caitlyn << KAYT lihn >> (1949-…), formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an American track and field champion and television personality. In 2015, Jenner attracted worldwide attention by coming out as a transgender woman and becoming known by the name Caitlyn.
William Bruce Jenner was born on Oct. 28, 1949, in Mount Kisco, New York. Jenner grew up in nearby towns and in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Jenner earned a football scholarship and attended Graceland College (now Graceland University) in Lamoni, Iowa. A knee injury forced Jenner to give up football and turn to track and field. In 1970, Jenner competed in a college decathlon for the first time and set a school record. The decathlon is a two-day competition consisting of 10 different athletics events. In 1972, Jenner competed in the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, placing 10th in the decathlon. Jenner graduated from Graceland College in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
In the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, Jenner won a gold medal in the men’s decathlon. In winning the medal, Jenner broke the world record for points scored in the decathlon, with 8,618 points. The record stood for four years, until Daley Thompson of the United Kingdom broke it with a score of 8,648 in Götzis, Austria. In 1986, Jenner was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame.
Jenner’s Olympic success led to a number of endorsements, speaking engagements, and TV appearances. Jenner worked as a sports commentator and appeared on a number of game shows, television series, made-for-TV movies, and motion pictures. Jenner has written several books, including Decathlon Challenge: Bruce Jenner’s Story (1977), Finding the Champion Within (1996), and The Secrets of My Life (2017).
Jenner later starred in the reality television series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which aired on the E! network from 2007 to 2021. Jenner was married to the show’s matriarch, Kris Jenner, from 1991 to March 2015. Later in 2015, Jenner came out as a transgender woman with the name Caitlyn Marie Jenner. From 2015 to 2016, Jenner appeared in the documentary television series I Am Cait, focusing on her gender transition. In 2021, Jenner briefly campaigned to be elected governor of California.
