Caitlyn Marie Jenner, formerly known as William Bruce Jenner, was born on October 28, 1949, in Mount Kisco, New York, and spent her childhood in Sleepy Hollow, New York, with her parents Esther Jenner and William Jenner.
Jenner's athletic career began in college, where she played football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before suffering a knee injury that required surgery. Convinced by Olympic decathlete Jack Parker's coach, L.D. Weldon, to try the decathlon, Jenner went on to have a six-year decathlon career, culminating in her victory at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where she set a third successive world record and earned the nickname "an all-American hero".
Jenner's athletic achievements led to her being given the unofficial title of "world's greatest athlete", and she went on to establish a career in television, film, writing, auto racing, business, and as a Playgirl cover model.
Jenner has six children with three successive wives, Chrystie Crownover, Linda Thompson, and Kris Jenner, and from 2007 to 2021 appeared on the reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians with Kris, their daughters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Kris's other children Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, and Rob Kardashian.
In April 2015, Jenner publicly came out as a trans woman, announcing her new name in July. From 2015 to 2016, she starred in the reality television series I Am Cait, which focused on her gender transition. She has been referred to as the most famous transgender woman in the world.
Jenner is a transgender rights activist, although her views on transgender issues have been criticized by many other trans and LGBTQ+ activists. A member of the Republican Party, she ran as a replacement candidate in the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election, receiving 1% of the vote and finishing in 13th place among the candidates running to replace governor Gavin Newsom. Six months after the election, Jenner was hired by Fox News as an on-air contributor.
