WHEN all-American athlete Bruce Jenner raised his hands in triumph after winning his Olympic decathlon gold medal, he had the world at his feet.
Such was the adoration for the handsome, muscled hero after the 1976 Montreal Games, Hollywood movie producers considered him a serious contender for the role of Superman.
The part finally went to Christopher Reeve, who bore a remarkable resemblance to him.
But as one commentator said at the time: “Jenner is twirling the nation like a baton.
“He and wife Chrystie are so high up on the pedestal of American heroism it would take a crane to get them down.”
Almost 40 years on, the 65-year-old is attracting more hero worship — this time for becoming the most famous, and possibly the most jaw-dropping, transgender person ever.
This week Caitlyn Jenner announced herself on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, wearing a corset in snaps taken by A-list photographer Annie Leibowitz.
Her glamorous new look drew comparisons with stars including supermodel Cindy Crawford and actress Courteney Cox.
When she launched herself on Twitter as @Caitlyn_Jenner on Monday night, her account became the site’s fastest-followed ever — picking up a million fans in one hour.
And Caitlyn says that shooting the cover was even better than winning Olympic gold.
She said: “That was a good day but the last couple of days were better.
“The last few days of doing this shoot was about my life and who I am as a person. It’s not about the fanfare, it’s not about the people cheering in the stadium.
“It’s not about going down the street getting an ‘Attaboy, Bruce!’ pat on the back. This is about your life. As soon as the Vanity Fair cover comes out, I’m free.”
Between those two amazing life moments, Caitlyn won further fame in the massively popular US reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Her arrival this week even knocked from the news confirmation of step-daughter Kim’s second pregnancy.
So who is Caitlyn Jenner?
In 1972, during the Cold War, three major Olympic titles traditionally held by American sportsmen had been won by Soviet athletes, including the decathlon.
Winning back that title in 1976 made Bruce the ultimate all-American hero. In the process, he smashed the competition with a world-record points haul.
In the months that followed, Bruce was honoured at the White House and was sought-after to front ads for a host of products, including the breakfast cereal Wheaties, which signed the athlete as its 1977 “Wheaties champ”.
Bruce’s good looks were splashed across bill-boards across America, advertising everything from sportswear to sweets.
His pet labrador Bertha even starred in a commercial for dog food.
The dedication of Bruce drove him to the top but in one interview at the time, he admitted: “It hurts every day. But who cares how bad it hurts? I have the rest of my life to recuperate.”
It was that bravery, determination and ability to face pain head-on, close friends say, that let Caitlyn complete her amazing transformation.
Growing up in Sleepy Hollow, New York, the dyslexic son of a tree surgeon struggled academically. But Bruce excelled at sports, winning a football scholarship to college before a knee injury led him to switch to athletics.
Caitlyn now reveals that she was living a lie throughout that vaunted sports career, saying: “I hid who I was.”
That was true in private also.
Bruce wed first wife Chrystie in 1972 and they had two children, Burt and Casey, before divorcing in 1981. Almost immediately, Bruce tied the knot with actress Linda Thompson. They had two sons, Brandon and Brody, but divorced within five years.
This week Linda tweeted her support for her former husband.
And it emerged only recently that Bruce made a first attempt at transitioning from male to female after that marriage.
Yet medical support at the time was crude. Bruce received hormones that didn’t agree with him, although they helped him to grow breasts.
Ten years later, after apparently turning his back on becoming a woman, Bruce decided to marry again — to Kris Kardashian — in April 1991. They had two children, Kendall, 19, and 17-year-old Kylie.
Back then he was the most famous member of the TV family.
Kris’s four children by late lawyer Robert Kardashian — Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob — were all just youngsters.
But the struggle went on.
Caitlyn told Vanity Fair: “Bruce always had to tell a lie. Every day he always had a secret from morning to night. Caitlyn doesn’t have any secrets.”
In an earlier interview, Bruce said he cross-dressed throughout his 23-year marriage to Kris, now 59, and revealed she knew he wanted to change sex.
Kris reportedly told Bruce not to dress up in front of their children. But Caitlyn told Vanity Fair the marriage failed due to Kris being “controlling”, saying: “The first 15 years, I felt she needed me more as I was the breadwinner.
“Then, when (Keeping Up With The Kardashians) hit and she was running the whole show and had her own money, she didn’t need me as much. She became less tolerant of me.
“People would see how I got mistreated. She controlled the money, all that stuff.”
Of the split, Caitlyn added: “Twenty per cent was gender and 80 per cent was the way I was treated.”
But Kris claimed: “He was married to me and wasn’t who he wanted to be, so he was miserable. I was working very hard for my family so we could all have a wonderful future and he was p***ed off.
“Why would you want to be married and have kids if this is what you wanted since you were a little boy? Why not explain this all to me?”
The other Kardashian women have been hugely supportive.
Of the Vanity Fair cover, Kim, 34, tweeted to her 32million followers: “How beautiful! Be happy, be proud, live life YOUR way!” She added that meeting Caitlyn “felt really natural”.
An eight-part documentary will now shine a light on Caitlyn’s stunning transformation. To Kris’s fury, the show is set to be every bit as successful as Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Bruce was often sidelined as Kris and Co played out their lives in front of the cameras.
Now Caitlyn has her moment — and the public may yet be more interested in keeping up with her than with the Kardashians.
BOXING promoter Kellie Maloney is another tough sporting icon who revealed she was transgender.
Here, the 61-year-old – who posed in swimwear, in this week’s Now magazine, for the first time since her full gender reassignment – pens a personal letter to Caitlyn.
Dear Caitlyn
WOW! Just wow! That’s what I thought when I first saw your amazing Vanity Fair cover, Caitlyn. You look so beautiful.
What really made me delighted, though, was the sheer happiness shining in your eyes. I felt so pleased for you finally being able to be what you should always have been.
To be able to look into the mirror and at long, long last see the face you should always have had looking back.
Only someone who has had to endure the terrible torment and trauma that transgender people like me and you have experienced can ever truly understand what a momentous moment this is for you.
To understand how you are now at complete peace with yourself.
That you are not being torn apart by feelings you can’t control, by having to live a lie day after day – always with the fear of being found out.
That’s all gone now – and I can’t tell you how wonderful that peace is.
All the terror, the fear, the inner struggle has gone.
Just to be able to walk out the door as Kellie is such a fantastic feeling. You must be so enjoying just being Caitlyn.
The journey to get to where you are must have been so painful. No one understands that more than me.
There is the horrible fear of rejection, wondering how family and friends will react. You will lose some. Some friends have been unable to support me.
Family, thank God, have been fantastic.
But others won’t be. I have had horrible abuse from strangers – you probably will too. Just look them in the eye and feel sorry for them.
Like me, you will probably wish you had done this years ago.
I know, just as I assume you do too, that if I had continued to live a lie I wouldn’t be here now. I was becoming bitter and lonely, driving people away.
Now I feel totally reborn.
Recently I had the final surgery done to turn me fully into a woman and, although it is a personal choice, I would urge you to have it.
It feels like the final piece of the jigsaw, the final piece of Kellie is now in place.
Love, Kellie