Bruce Jenner

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Medal record
Men’s Athletics
Competitor for Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Olympic Games
Gold	Montreal 1976	Decathlon

William Bruce Jenner (born October 28, 1949 in Mount Kisco, New York) is a U.S. track athlete, known principally for winning the decathlon in the 1976 Summer Olympics.

An excellent high school athlete, Bruce Jenner attended Newtown High School in Newtown, Connecticut, transferring from Sleepy Hollow High School in Tarrytown, New York. (Years later, the stadium there was to be named after him, but following an argument between the school and Jenner concerning the high school's construction project that was to displace an ancient Indian burial mound, the stadium is now called Blue and Gold Stadium.) Jenner earned a football scholarship and attended Graceland College (now Graceland University), but a knee injury forced him to stop playing football and switch to the decathlon. He was mentored by Graceland's track coach L.D. Weldon, who was the first to recognize Jenner's potential and encouraged him to pursue decathlon. Jenner debuted in the decathlon at the Drake Relays in 1970, placing sixth.

Contents 1 Olympic career 2 Reality TV appearances 3 Other appearances 4 Personal life 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Olympic career

Jenner placed third in the 1972 U.S. Olympic trials and finished in an impressive tenth place at the 1972 Munich games. He became an American champion in the event and won a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, setting a world record of 8,634 points. Jenner was handed a large American flag from a bystander in the audience as he spontaneously ran a celebratory victory lap, a gesture that has been emulated frequently since that time by athletes in other sports from countries around the world (and also by by John Belushi in a Saturday Night Live commercial parody^[1]). He was the 1976 recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. He was also a Sullivan Award Winner and The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 1976. He was inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Bay Area Hall of Fame and Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

Jenner's 1976 Olympic Scores: 100 meter=10.94 seconds,Long Jump=23'8 3/4",Shot Put=50'4" 400 meters=47.51 seconds,100 meter hurdles 14.8 seconds,Discus Throw=165'10",Pole Vault=15'9" Javelin=225',1500 meter=4 mins 12.6 seconds

[edit] Reality TV appearances

Since 2002, Jenner has appeared as himself on a variety of game shows and reality TV programs. In January 2002 he participated in an episode of the American series of The Weakest Link (US) featuring Olympian athletes. In February and March 2003, he was part of the cast of the American series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, and made a cameo on a season three episode of The Apprentice that originally aired in May 2005. He was partnered with Tai Babilonia for Skating with Celebrities that aired January-March 2006 (they were eliminated during the fifth of seven episodes).

In late 2007 Jenner, along with wife Kris, stepdaughters Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and stepson Robert (from Kris' marriage to attorney Robert Kardashian), and daughters Kylie and Kendall, starred in the E! reality series Keeping Up With The Kardashians; the show was renewed for a second season to air in 2008.^[2] He also made a judge appearance on Pet Star on animal planet.

[edit] Other appearances

Following his Olympic success, Jenner appeared on the front of Wheaties brand breakfast cereal as a "Wheaties champion". Of several hundred athletes who have been so featured, Jenner is one of seven Wheaties spokesmen. He was invited to the White House to meet with President Gerald R. Ford who autographed a political cartoon that featured the pair.

In 1980, Jenner made his acting debut in the film Can't Stop the Music. The disco-era comedy about the singing group The Village People was a notorious flop, though, and Jenner never made another theatrical film. However, he did appear in a few TV movies. He also guest-starred in a handful of episodes of the 80s TV police drama CHiPs as Officer Steve McLeish (subsitituting for star Erik Estrada when he was in a contract dispute with the studio).

[edit] Personal life

Jenner is widely known to have struggled with dyslexia -- he appeared on the sitcom Silver Spoons where he revealed his condition to the Stratton family -- and after retiring from sports, built a successful career as a motivational speaker and television sports commentator (making an appearance on the series Learn To Read). In 2006, Jenner competed on the FOX reality show Skating with Celebrities, partnered with former U.S. and World Champion pairs figure skater Tai Babilonia; they finished third out of six couples.

His first marriage to Chrystie Crownover (1972 to 1980) produced two children, Casey Jenner and Burt Jenner. His sons (with second wife Linda Thompson, to whom he was married from 1981 to 1983) Brandon and Brody appeared in their own reality show The Princes of Malibu, which featured them living with their stepfather David Foster. His stepdaughter Kourtney Kardashian likewise appeared on the E! network's reality series Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive. Jenner is currently married to the former Kris Kardashian.

[edit] See also

• Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Wheaties spokesperson
• Bruce Jenner's U.S. Olympic Team bio

Records
Preceded by Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Nikolay Avilov	Men's Decathlon World Record Holder August 10, 1975 – May 15, 1980	Succeeded by Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Daley Thompson
Awards
Preceded by Image:Flag of the United States.svg Fred Lynn	Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year 1976	Succeeded by Image:Flag of the United States.svg Steve Cauthen
Sporting positions
Preceded by Image:Flag of Poland.svg Ryszard Skowronek	Decathlon Best Year Performance 1975 – 1976	Succeeded by Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Aleksandr Grebenyuk

v • d • e Olympic champions in the all around, pentathlon and decathlon
As all-around	Tom Kiely
As pentathlon	Hjalmer Mellander • Jim Thorpe • Eero Lehtonen (twice)
As decathlon	Jim Thorpe • Helge Løvland • Harold Osborn • Paavo Yrjölä • James Bausch • Glenn Morris • Bob Mathias (twice) • Milt Campbell • Rafer Johnson • Willi Holdorf • Bill Toomey • Nikolay Avilov • Bruce Jenner • Daley Thompson (twice) • Christian Schenk • Robert Změlík • Dan O'Brien • Erki Nool • Roman Šebrle

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