Bruce Jenner’s Olympic and sporting record – all the decathlete’s gold medals revealed
BRUCE Jenner, now known as Caitlyn Jenner, made the transition from Olympian to LGBT icon, a process which has been largely documented.
But before she went on to win awards for her trans-activism, she was leading the field on the athletic track – here is the former decathlete’s story.
When did Bruce Jenner go to the Olympics?
Bruce Jenner’s first experience at the Olympics came in 1972 when he attended the trials for the US Olympic team.
Despite being relatively new to the decathlon event and virtually unknown in the sport he took a chance.
Only three athletes could make the squad and after the first day of trials, when Jenner was in 11th place, it appeared unlikely he would be one of those competitors.
But on the second day he, with three events still in sight, advanced to tenth place and after competing in the pole vault climbed to seventh.
Eventually, his javelin moved him to fifth place and when he beat the athlete in third place in the 1500 metres by 21 seconds he made the team.
Speaking about the accomplishment at the time, Jenner said: "It is still the biggest athletic thrill of my life.
"Never, ever in a million years did I think I'd be competing in the Olympics."
He came tenth at the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, Germany.
The former athlete returned to the Olympics in 1976, held in Montreal, where he was expected to win gold.
He had a strategy in place, stay within 200 points of the leader’s score by the end of the first day.
After the first day of competition, with the 100 metre sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 metre race complete, he was only 35 points behind the leader, Germany’s Guido Kratschmer.
By day two, he was unmistakably in the lead, having excelled in his strongest events – 110 metre hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1500 metre run.
Jenner set a personal record in the 1500 metres and achieved a decathlon world record of 8,618 points for ten events that year.
read more on caitlyn jenner
How many Olympic medals does Bruce Jenner have?
At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Jenner won gold for the decathlon; however, he quit the event the same day as his big win.
In fact, he even left his vaulting poles in the Olympic stadium, as he did not plan to compete any more.
The Olympian told Hartford Courant: "I retired that day. I had to give up too much to get there, life-wise. I knew it was the last hurrah."
Also, Jenner won gold at both the 1974 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, the Pan American Games, held in Mexico City in 1975 and the French Athletics Championships in 1975.
As well as his Olympic accolades, Jenner was named Associated Press Athlete of the Year and received the Sullivan Award for the best amateur athlete in the United States.