In the 1970s, Caitlyn Jenner rose to prominence as an athlete. At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, she took home a gold medal and broke a world record. Following her career, she went on to work in the entertainment industry.
However, Caitlyn has gained attention recently for disclosing that she is transgender and for undergoing hormone therapy to change her gender. Because of her brave decision, Jenner has become an inspiration to many people.
The former elite athlete, though, still believes that the “old Bruce” is still inside her. You now know everything there is to know about Caitlyn Jenner!
William Bruce Jenner was born in Mount Kisco, New York, on October 28, 1949, and became Caitlyn Jenner. She suffered from dyslexia as a child, but despite the difficulties, sports saved her life. Caitlyn was a major skill in a lot of activities, thus she was successful in sports throughout her childhood.
Early life of Caitlyn Jenner
Jenner was an outstanding football, basketball, and water skier in high school. But her real passion would turn out to be track and field.
But Caitlyn was given a football scholarship from Graceland College in Iowa right away. However, she had to move to track and field after suffering a knee injury that prevented her from playing on the field.
As previously indicated, Caitlyn was an extremely talented athlete who won awards for being her high school football, basketball, and track teams’ most valuable player. However, she was already having issues with her gender identity at that point in her life.
“I look at guys and I go…’ He’s comfortable in his own skin,’” Jenner recalled. “And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be a nice way to go through life?’ I look at women all the time thinking, ‘Oh my God, how lucky are they that they can wake up in the morning and be themselves. But me, I’m stuck here in the middle.”
L.D. Weldon, Caitlyn Jenner’s undergraduate track coach, persuaded her to begin preparing for the Olympic decathlon, an athletics combination event that consists of ten track and field events. The coach, who was an expert in the extremely difficult track event, believed Jenner was the ideal candidate.
Caitlyn unexpectedly won the Kansas Relays in 1971. She qualified for the US Olympic team the following year and placed tenth in the Munich Olympic Decathlon.
Olympic gold medallist
While that was a noteworthy accomplishment, Jenner was aware that she could perform much better. She so started a rigorous training programme and practiced for eight hours every day for the next four years.
Jenner was prepared for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
At the age of 26, she won the decathlon at the Olympics, setting a new world record with 8,618 points on July 30, 1976.
Given the turbulent times the US was going through due to the Vietnam War’s aftermath, Watergate, and other major issues, Jenner’s Olympic gold medal was significant. They were viewed as an enormous American superhero and turned into a symbol since, at the time, they had flowing, long hair that resembled a lion.
She was praised as the world’s most exceptional athlete. But when they got the gold medal, they felt like women even if they later became symbols of masculinity.
Caitlyn told ABC, “I see a confused person at that time, running away from my life … with big-time fear. [I was] scared to death. I didn’t realize what my future held at that time.”
“That is me. That is her,” she added, referring to her gender identity. “[you can be a woman] and still kick butt.”
“I was totally empty inside”
Caitlyn Jenner’s spectacular Olympic triumph made her more than just an American hero. It also meant that after she returned to the States, everyone wanted to be associated with her, and celebrity was unavoidable.
Jenner became somewhat of a national brand after landing numerous endorsement deals. She also had appearances in commercials, TV series, and even motion pictures.
But beneath the persona that at the time was Bruce Jenner, she was someone else.
The Kansas City Kings selected Jenner in the seventh round of the 1977 National Basketball Association draft. None of that mattered, though, as she stood on stage soaking in the attention, chants, and cheers.
“I walk off the stage, and I’d feel like a liar. And I would say, ‘F*ck, I can’t tell my story,” she recalled. “There’s so much more to me than those 48 hours in the stadium, and I can’t talk about it.’ It was frustrating. You get mad at yourself…. Little did they know I was totally empty inside. Totally empty inside.”
In 1971, seven years prior to her Olympic triumph, Caitlyn Jenner wed her college girlfriend Chrystie Scott. While Jenner sold insurance at night, she worked as a flight attendant and was fully committed to supporting her then-husband in realising their Olympic ambition.
Caitlyn Jenner – marriage, wife, children
1978 saw the birth of their first child, Burt, and the couple’s second child, Cassandra, two years later. However, the pair had already broken up since Chrystie was expecting Cassandra.
Jenner told ABC that Chrystie was most likely “the first one to know” about their gender identification issues.
“I didn’t go heavily into it back then,” Caitlyn explained. “I said ‘these are my issues. This is what I deal with.’ And they think I do a little cross dressing, I do a little of this, a little of that, you know, ‘it’s going to be fine, we’ll work all this stuff out.’”
Jenner struggled with her gender identification, but she never let it show. She wed Linda Thompson in 1981, and the two of them had boys, Brody and Brandon Jenner. The pair separated after five years.
Subsequently, Caitlyn disclosed that the reason behind their breakup was partially due to her issues with gender identification. However, Thompson made it apparent that her role was to constantly stand for Caitlyn, even after their marriage ended.
“My hope is that his transition will inspire others who struggle with their identities, and my prayer is that humanity has evolved and been educated enough to exercise kindness toward those we may perceive as ‘different,” she said.
Caitlyn Jenner, who was struggling with depression, made the decision to seek professional assistance after her divorce from Linda. In the late eighties, she also started taking oestrogen and had electrolysis and a nose job to get rid of facial hair.
Stopped her transition
She had also begun to develop breasts, even though her original intention was to transition completely before turning forty. However, Jenner chose to halt the procedure at 39.
Caitlyn was having identity issues. However, at the same time that Caitlyn was having identity issues, there was a lack of respect and understanding for transgender individuals and those going through a transition, which made matters worse for her as a well-known person.
However, Caitlyn Jenner was and still is bold, if there is one thing. It was the first time a family member had learned about her gender dilemma until she chose to inform her older sister Pam.
Some of her family members, meanwhile, found it difficult to comprehend her.
She got married to Kris Jenner in 1991. They remained wed until 2015. With Kris, Caitlyn gave birth to her two most well-known children, Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
The marriage of Kris and Caitlyn lasted for over twenty years. When they signed up for the reality series Keeping Up With The Kardashians in 2007, which featured Caitlyn as well, their family shot to fame. She continued to feel, nevertheless, that living like a guy was a lie.
Kris and Caitlyn parted ways in 2013. She continued her transition without alerting her kids four months later.
Still feel like Bruce lives inside her
Since her family was unaware of her plans, Jenner was concerned about how they would respond to the news.
“That night I thought, ‘oh, it’s, like, over. Heart’s pounding… and I thought wouldn’t the easiest thing to be right now,” Caitlyn Jenner recalled.
The divorce between Kris and Caitlyn was finalised in 2014. She disclosed her transition to each and every one of her kids. They all gave her a tonne of support.
Caitlyn Jenner has accepted her new life as of right now, which is undoubtedly very different from her previous one. Sometimes, Kendall and Kylie still refer to her as “dad.” Nevertheless, she claimed that despite the uncertainty, she didn’t find it problematic.
“I know we had a talk a few years ago and you were ok with us still calling you dad. How do you feel about that now,” in a video posted on her YouTube channel, Caitlyn’s daughter Kylie questioned her about how she felt about that at the time.
Caitlyn Jenner – net worth
“I feel it was one of the best decisions I made. Sometimes this community can be pretty tough, especially when it comes to pronouns, and everybody’s got an opinion,” Caitlyn replied.
“But I really felt from the beginning that I’ve got to do it my way that works for me, and everyone out there can do it their way that works for them. Some people would say, ‘You’re the mother’, but I’m not. I’m the dad, I’ve been the dad the whole way, I will be their father until the day they die or I die.”
Caitlyn Jenner continues to feel that “Bruce” is still inside of her, despite the fact that it has been more than five years since her transition. She continues to appreciate activities that Bruce enjoyed, such driving fast cars and flying aeroplanes, much as she did before her change.
Caitlyn Jenner is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $100 million by Celebrity Net Worth.
Many look up to Caitlyn Jenner as a courageous and inspirational individual.