SEEKING OLYMPIC GOLD. Hec Hancock Herald Sports Editor

Transcription

1 SEEKING OLYMPIC GOLD Hec Hancock Herald Sports Editor If it s true, as has long been claimed, that behind every successful man there s a good woman, then in Bruce Jenner s case finding the lady in question is easier and much more pleasant than falling off the proverbial log. In fact, if your eyesight is near corrected or otherwise and you have a few red corpuscles coursing through the blood system, there s little likelihood you would overlook Chrystie Jenner. She s the pretty blonde lady, wearing the yellow outfit that accentuates a trim figure and has Go, Jenner, Go emblazoned across the back of her t- shirt, who sits in the stands and exhorts her husband on to bigger and better things. Jenner, to refresh your memory, is the gentleman with the bulging muscles and handsome looks who goes aroung sucking down Gatorade and winning decathlons. In fact, he won one down at the Olympic trials in Eugene over the weekend and broke his own world record in the process. He s the closest thing to

2 the bionic man you can get this side of a television studio. If he s successful and there s every reason to think he will be in his quest for Olmpic gold at Montreal, he will have almost irrefutably established himself as the world s No.1 athlete. But playing a big role in his ascendancy has been his ever lovin spouse. Chrystie started out life 25 years ago as Chrystie Crownover in Richland. She first attended Vista Elementary in Kennewick and then went to Highlands Intermediate. I made the Highlanders at Highland Intermediate, played in the orchestra, and was on the yearbook staff. I was a copy editor, I think, she recalls. Her mother taught at Fruitland Elementary. She was all set to go to Kennewick High but her father, who s employed by General Electric, was transferred to San Jose. After graduating from high school in San Jose, she enrolled at Graceland College, a small churchaffiliated college in Iowa. That s where she met Jenner. After graduation in 1972, Chrystie went off to the United Airlines Stewardess School in New York while Jenner startled the athletic world by making the U.S. Olympic team in the decathlon. He was in the trials the same day I was graduating from stew school and I was beside myself because I couldn t be there. But I was able to go to Munich for the

3 Olympics, she recalled. They were married after the Olympics and moved to San Jose. Getting their heads together, they decided their first priority would be Bruce winning a gold medal in the Olympics. San Jose is an ideal locale to train for the decathlon; there re enough world class athletes in the general area that if San Jose was a country, it would be one of the leading contenders for team honors in the Olympics. With such a profusion of talent, there s no problem in getting help with technique in the 10 decathlon events. Time, of course, is another matter but Jenner took a job as an insurance salesman which enabled him to work out a schedule where he can get six or seven hours of practice in daily. In 1975, the long hours of practice paid off as he won the national title and set a world record in the process. Shortly after the first of the year, the young couple got together again and decided that they would get by on what Chrystie brought in so Bruce could concentrate full-time on preparing for the Olympics. Concentrate is the right word, she says. He isn t practicing any more than when he was working as a salesman. However, the decathlon is about 70 percent mental and the rest physical. I just felt that since this was going to be his last decathlon, we should do everything

4 possible to be sure it was successful. In her own opinion, her biggest contribution to her husband s Olympic campaign is providing emotional support. Lately, she says, he wants me to attend his workouts. I can time him when he needs it but there s always someone around the practice field who can handle that. This is a difficult time in his life and he wants encouragement. If Jenner comes out on top at Montreal it wouldn t be inappropriate that she climb the winner s stand with him. That s out of the question, of course, but she will share in fruits of their labors in the athletic vineyards, figuratively speaking. Win or lose at Montreal, Jenner vows this will be his last decathlon. I m going to start looking for work on July 30, he promises. That s the day after the Olympic decathlon. The decathlon championship is whatever you make of it, points out Chrystie. The future is wide open. The important thing is to move cautionsly and not make any wrong moves. Already feelers have been pouring in regarding endorsements, public relations and movies. But before he starts working that lode there s the Olympics. That s the Jenners key to the future.

5 World decathlon champ Bruce Jenner grimaced, his wife Chrystie winced, and his mother Esther worried during the Olympic trials in Eugene, Saturday. Jenner s wife is the former Chrystie Crownover, born in Richland and raised in Kennewick. Tri-City Herald Pasco, Kennewick, Richland WA Tuesday, June 29, 1976 page 11 [google newspapers online]