Caitlyn Jenner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Caitlyn Jenner
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg)
Jenner in 2017
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
William Bruce Jenner
October 28, 1949 Mount Kisco, New York, U.S.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Caitlyn Marie Jenner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Graceland College (BS) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1970–present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Republican | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 6, including: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner on October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and a famous retired Olympic athlete. She won a gold medal in the decathlon, a challenging ten-event track and field competition.
Before her Olympic fame, Jenner played college football. An injury led her to switch to the decathlon. She trained for six years and won the men's decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Her victory set a new world record and made her a national hero in the United States. After her athletic career, she worked in television, film, and business.
Jenner has six children. From 2007 to 2021, she appeared on the reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians with her family, including her daughters Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner.
In April 2015, Jenner shared that she is a trans woman. She announced her new name, Caitlyn, in July of that year. Her journey was shown in her own reality series, I Am Cait. She is now a well-known activist for transgender rights.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Caitlyn Marie Jenner was born in Mount Kisco, New York. Her parents were Esther and William Jenner. As a child, she was diagnosed with dyslexia, a learning difference that can make reading difficult. Her younger brother, Burt, died in a car accident in 1976.
Jenner attended high school in New York and Connecticut, graduating in 1968. She received a football scholarship to Graceland College in Iowa. After a knee injury ended her football career, her track coach, L.D. Weldon, encouraged her to try the decathlon. She graduated in 1973 with a degree in physical education.
A Champion's Athletic Career
Path to the Olympics
Jenner first competed in the decathlon in 1970. At the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials, she surprisingly qualified for the Olympic team. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, she placed tenth. Watching Soviet athlete Mykola Avilov win inspired her to train harder than ever before.
She said, "I literally started training that night at midnight, running through the streets of Munich... I trained that day on through the 1976 Games, 6–8 hours a day, every day, 365 days a year."
Jenner moved to San Jose, California, which was a major center for track and field athletes. She trained hard during the day and sold insurance at night to support her family. At that time, Olympic athletes were not paid, so she had to work while training.
Winning Olympic Gold
Jenner's hard work paid off. In 1975, she won a gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games. She also set two new world records in the decathlon before the Olympics.
At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Jenner had an amazing performance. She set personal best scores in five different events on the first day. In the final event, the 1500-meter run, she ran her fastest time ever. She won the gold medal with a new world-record score of 8,618 points.
After her victory, Jenner took an American flag from a fan and carried it on her victory lap. This started a new tradition for winning athletes. She retired from the decathlon immediately after the Olympics, saying, "I went into that competition knowing that would be the last time I would ever do this."
Lasting Impact on Sports
Jenner became a national hero. She won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the U.S. and was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1976.
Her Olympic record stood for four years. Because of her achievements, she was inducted into several sports halls of fame, including the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Her success made the decathlon more popular and inspired many future athletes.
Life After the Olympics
Fame and Endorsements
.jpg)
After winning the gold medal, Jenner became very famous. She was one of the first athletes to turn her Olympic success into a career in entertainment and advertising.
In 1977, she became a spokesperson for Wheaties breakfast cereal. Her picture appeared on the front of the Wheaties box, which was a huge honor for an athlete. She also appeared in ads for companies like Tropicana and Minolta.
Television and Film Career
Jenner started appearing on television and in movies. Her first film was the musical comedy Can't Stop the Music (1980). She also acted in TV movies and had a recurring role on the police show CHiPs.
Over the years, Jenner appeared on many game shows and reality TV programs. From 2007 to 2021, she was a main cast member on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. The show followed the lives of her family and became a worldwide success.
In 2021, she was a contestant on The Masked Singer as the "Phoenix." She also appeared on the Australian show Big Brother VIP. In 2022, she was hired by Fox News as a contributor.
Motorsports and Business
Jenner also had a career as a race car driver in the 1980s. In 1986, she and her co-driver, Scott Pruett, won their class at the famous 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race.
In 2022, she started her own racing team, Jenner Racing, which competed in the all-female W Series. Her driver, Jamie Chadwick, won the championship that year. Jenner has also been involved in several businesses, including an aircraft supply company.
Personal Life
Before her gender transition, Jenner was married three times and has six children. Her children include Burt, Brandon, Brody, Kendall, and Kylie. While married to Kris Jenner, she was also the step-parent to Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob Kardashian.
In February 2015, Jenner was involved in a serious multi-car accident in Malibu, California, in which a woman named Kim Howe died. No criminal charges were filed, and lawsuits related to the accident were settled privately.
On June 13, 2025, Jenner posted photos from a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel, showing she was taking cover during airstrikes.
Gender Transition
In a television interview in April 2015, Jenner shared that she is a trans woman. She explained that she had felt this way since she was young, a feeling known as gender dysphoria.
On June 1, 2015, she introduced herself to the world as Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine. The cover was photographed by the famous photographer Annie Leibovitz. She also started a Twitter account, which gained over a million followers in just four hours, setting a world record.
Her name was legally changed to Caitlyn Marie Jenner in September 2015. Her journey was documented in the TV series I Am Cait, which showed her transition and its effect on her family. The show aimed to educate people about transgender issues.
Reception and Activism
.jpeg)
Jenner's announcement was a major media event. Many people supported her courage, and she received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPY Awards for her bravery. She has used her fame to speak out for the rights of LGBT people, especially the transgender community.
However, some of her views have been criticized by other activists. For example, her support for the Republican Party and her opinions on transgender athletes have caused debate.
In 2017, she published a memoir titled The Secrets of My Life, which shared more details about her life and experiences.
Political Views and Activities
Jenner is a member of the Republican Party. She has described herself as being socially liberal (supporting personal freedoms) and fiscally conservative (wanting careful government spending).
She has sometimes supported and sometimes criticized political leaders. In 2017, she spoke out against President Donald Trump's decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military.
2021 Run for Governor
In 2021, Jenner announced she was running for Governor of California in a special recall election. She said she wanted to be a "disrupter" and bring a new perspective to politics.
During her campaign, she stated that she did not believe transgender girls should compete in girls' sports at school, which caused controversy. In the election, she finished in 13th place with about one percent of the vote.
See also
In Spanish: Caitlyn Jenner para niños
- History of transgender people in the United States
- List of athletes on Wheaties boxes
- List of transgender people
