Flashback Friday: Bruce Jenner Wins Gold Medal at 1976 Olympic Games!

USMagazine, Friday, August 10, 2012, 3:00pm (PDT)

Before he was a beloved reality show patriarch, Bruce Jenner was the greatest athlete in the world.

At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Jenner -- then just 26 years old -- took home the gold in the grueling decathlon, which consists of ten separate track and field events.

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Decathlon participants are expected to excel at sprinting, middle-distance runs, javelin, shot put, discus, high jump, pole vault, and hurdles.

In London on Thursday, American Ashton Eaton, 24, followed in Jenner's footsteps, snagging decathlon gold once more for Team USA -- and setting the sport's world record.

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"So Ashton doesn't have to sound selfish or self-centered, [he] is the best athlete to ever walk the planet -- hands down," Eaton's teammate Trey Hardee told the Associated Press. "The title bestowed upon the Olympic champion in the decathlon is 'world's greatest athlete.' Ashton is the world record holder in that event."

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Flashback Friday: Bruce Jenner Wins Gold Medal at 1976 Olympic Games!