Decathlon Challenge: Bruce Jenner's Story

by Caitlyn Jenner

The gold medal winner in the 1976 Olympic decathlon competition describes the four years he spent in training.

Genres: Sports

213 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Caitlyn Marie Jenner formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an American television personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete.

Reviews

[Bill]

As a 14-year old admirer of Bruce Jenner, I dashed out on my bicycle to Monmouth Mall near Eatontown, New Jersey and bought this book the day it came out. If you are really into the minutiae of how you train for and succeed in track and field in general, and decathlon in particular, you will enjoy this. Probably it is the only publication that gives his then-wife Christy her due; she seemingly dropped off the face of the earth once Bruce embarked on a program of marrying booby bimbos.



This is an aside of course, but how disappointing that Bruce, who was so smart and methodical in his approach to his athletic career, turns out to be rather average. Well, if you ignore all his plastic surgery...



I would love to read something in Vanity Fair about what Christy thinks of Bruce these days and his Kardashian clan...

[Gary Sites · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was 13 when Bruce Jenner won the gold medal in the decathlon. I was just beginning my life as an athlete. He was my role model, and one of my heroes. It is sad to see what he has become.

[Paul Barnes · Rating 1 out of 5]

[Prentice-Hall, Inc.] (1977). HB/DJ. 1/1. 213 Pages. Illustrated. Purchased from Gemma Lane (The Book Seeker).

There’s something of a condescending, arrogant tone in evidence.

Inconsistencies, repetition and ludicrous errors are not uncommon.

The authors chose to inform us that a discus is “dish-shaped” (p. 10), that a shot is a “cast-iron grapefruit” (p. 7) and that a javelin is a “spear” (p. 12).

Scoring tables are said to offer “arbitrary grading” (p. 16) [they don’t], “stepping” out of a shot circle is proscribed (p. 8) [it isn’t], throwing events are subject to wind-speed limits (p. 119) [they aren’t]… and so on….

An eye-watering character insight emerges in observations regarding the 1972 Munich massacre: “…these terrorists had come along, used the Olympics for their own political purposes, and were disrupting what I has been looking forward to for so long…” (p. 49).

An 'authority' is quoted to the effect that "...jumping and throwing, are the two most important abilities for the decathlon. Speed is important, too, but there are ways of getting around that." (p. 33.) What a ridiculous statement. There are three sprints (100m, 110m Hurdles, 400m), besides the Long Jump...

As for anabolic steroids: “…our athletes have to use them too… it’s no secret… But the East Germans have doctors who know these drugs and know the tests and how and when to use them so that you can still pass… Not our athletes. They have to take their own chances, hit and miss…” (pp. 204-205).

Unindexed.

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

written in 1977 this gives as close to the source as can get. written by an author and the culled journal writings of jenner this traces the times up to and including the 1976 olympics when he won gold. one brief mention of foreshadowing of what was to transpire. wife sounded very faithful. pix.