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Reuters

Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Bruce Jenner said he identified as a woman, becoming the most high-profile American to come out as transgender.
The 65-year-old Jenner made the declaration in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer on Friday, nearly 40 years after his Olympic gold-medal win in the decathlon that gave him the unofficial title of "World's Greatest Athlete".
At the outset of the taped interview, Sawyer asked "Are you a woman?" and Jenner responded, "Yes, for all intents and purposes I am a woman."
"People look at me differently," Jenner added. "They can see you as this macho male, but my heart and my soul, and everything that I do in life, it is part of me, that female side is part of me. That's who I am."
WATCH: ABC's sneak peak of Bruce Jenner's interview

Known to younger generations as the patriarch of reality TV's Kardashian clan, Jenner went on ABC's 20/20 to put to rest months of speculation that he was transitioning to life as a woman. Jenner's announcement coincides with a growing visibility of transgender people in American society.
Hollywood has played a part by introducing transgender storylines and actors such as Laverne Cox from television show Orange Is the New Black, who appeared on a Time magazine cover last year for a story about "America's next civil rights frontier".
An emotional Jenner said he had waited so many years to come out because he did not "want to disappoint people". Although Jenner did not address pronoun preference, Sawyer said that for this interview, Jenner asked that the public use "the familiar 'him' or 'he' ".
Three times married and divorced and parent to six biological children and four stepchildren, Jenner said he was not gay and had never had sex with a man. His first two wives sent messages of support for Jenner to Sawyer, while his most recent wife, Kris Jenner, the manager and mother of the stars in E! Entertainment's Keeping Up with the Kardashians, had no comment.
One of the most difficult times for Jenner was about 18 months ago, when journalists were waiting for him as he went to undergo a tracheal shave, a sign of a transition to women. He briefly had thoughts of taking his own life to escape the media, he said.
Stepdaughter Kim Kardashian, a famous reality TV star, has been "by far the most accepting and the easiest to talk to", Jenner said. Her husband, rapper Kanye West, had been instrumental in helping her accept Jenner's transition, he added.


'I'm a woman': Ex-Olympic star Bruce Jenner comes out as transgender

Bruce Jenner says he identifies as a woman. Photo: Reuters

Bruce Jenner said he received support from his family after announcing he would be transitioning into a woman. Photo: AP

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Olympic gold medalist waited so long to come out as he 'did not want to disappoint people'


Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Bruce Jenner said he identified as a woman, becoming the most high-profile American to come out as transgender.


'I'm a woman': Ex-Olympic star Bruce Jenner comes out as transgender

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Olympic gold medalist waited so long to come out as he 'did not want to disappoint people'

Olympic gold medalist waited so long to come out as he 'did not want to disappoint people'