Caitlyn Jenner is on the latest cover of Sports Illustrated 40 years after winning the gold medal in the Olympic decathlon, and sat down for an exclusive interview to reflect on her journey.
"The decathlon was the perfect distraction,"
the transgender activist told SI, alluding to her past struggles with gender identity.
Jenner said she's proud of that time in her life, winning gold medals as Bruce Jenner, but feels more keenly now her life outside of sports.
"What I’m dealing with now, this is about who you are as a human being. What did I do for the world in 1976, besides maybe getting a few people to exercise a little bit? I didn’t make a difference in the world," she said.
Jenner's in-depth interview and SI Films documentary celebrates the 40th anniversary of that world record-setting gold medal win.
The 66-year-old former Olympian described in the interview struggling with her body during those early days.
"It disgusted me," she said. "I was big and thick and masculine. The rest of the world thought it was this Greek god kind of body. I hated it. But it’s what I was given, so I just tried to do the best I could with it."
So she masked those feelings behind her success as an athlete.
Her first appearance on the cover of SI came in August of 1976. She made her transition to Caitlyn public in April of 2015,
CNN noted.
The SI cover is Jenner's first public appearance wearing the gold medal since 1976,
The Huffington Post reported.
Jenner, who gained a massive Twitter following after announcing her new name, promoted the Sports Illustrated story on the social network.
Twitter users shared mixed reactions.
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