Waving the American flag during victory lap: How Caitlyn Jenner kickstarted an iconic tradition in Olympic Games

Bruce Jenner, named Caitlyn Jenner post-transition, became popular as the “World’s Greatest Athlete” after winning the men's decathlon gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Jenner accumulated 8618 points across ten events: an effort that broke the world record for the third successive time. The most scintillating part of the Games, however, was when the runner walked the victory lap with a United States flag, starting an Olympic tradition.

Caitlyn Jenner, then Bruce, finished tenth in the decathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. This was an eye-opener for the Olympian, who began prepping for the 1976 Games the following day. At the 1975 Pan American Games, Jenner won gold with a tournament record, collecting 8,045 points. She set world records at the U.S.A./U.S.S.R./Poland triangular meet in Eugene, Oregon, and the 1976 Olympic Trials.

But the most notable was the Olympic finals effort, where Jenner not only broke the world record but also defeated the event favorite, Soviet Leonid Litvinenko, in the final 1500m dash. A 4.7m leap in the pole vault left the 1972 gold winner, Nikolai Avilov, behind. Jenner had looked Avilov in the eye and said:

"Next time, I’m going to beat you.”

It was a hard blow to the Soviet athletes, who finished first and second in the decathlon at the 1972 Olympics. When the Cold War was at its peak, the story intensified when Jenner brought back the gold to the US.

Jenner then pioneered the tradition of taking the victory lap with a country flag. Many athletes now follow in these footsteps. The path-breaking gold of the decathlete also landed Jenner on the front of the Wheaties cereal box.

Caitlyn Jenner achieved the Glamour Women of the Year 2015 after her biological transformation

Jenner, popular as the "World's Greatest Athlete", admitted in her later years that her gold medal fame was on the verge of threatening her identity as a woman. She chose not to trap herself in a man's body and eventually came out as a transgender woman in 2015. Jenner went under the knife in 2017 after gaining prominence for her advocacy and contribution to transgender awareness.

For her generous work for the gender-nonconforming community, Caitlyn Jenner was awarded the Glamour Women of the Year 2015.

"I trained 12 years for the Olympic Games. I trained 65 years to transition in 2015. I have the great double. Olympic decathlon champion and Glamour's woman of the year," she said. (via Yahoo)

She shared her story of coming out to all ten of her children. She also shared how the little things like getting the gender marker 'F' and the driver's license were special to her.