Caitlyn Jenner equated her run for California governor with her 1976 Olympic gold-medal win in the men’s decathlon, saying the competitor “little Bruce” is still within and “there is a lot of flight still left in me.”
In a sit-down interview with KTLA’s Frank Buckely Tuesday for “Inside California Politics,” Jenner said she’s still drawing on what her experience as an underdog at the Montreal Summer Olympics taught her about overcoming obstacles.
Jenner told Buckley she’d first come out to California in 1973, driving her 1963 Volkswagen bug cross-country to train with athletes in San Jose. Three years later, she faced down the sports world’s Goliath.
“I went up against the Soviet Union, the greatest athletic machine in the world. And all by my little lonesome in San Jose, California, and beat them,” she said. “This time I want to go to Sacramento, take on a teachers union, and I want to win for your kids. So there’s a lot of fight still left to me.”
“Little Bruce still kind of lives down there, and still got a lot of fight in him,” she added.
In the governor’s race, Jenner is once again aiming to come up from behind. Her campaign has raised a little over $335,000, significantly less than the race’s Republican frontrunners — former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has raised around $2.5 million, and businessman John Cox has raised nearly $7.8 million, according to data from the Los Angeles Times.
Jenner remarked that she’s lived “such an interesting, interesting life,” and through it all she remains “very proud” of her accomplishments as an athlete.
“I have what I call the ultimate double: Olympic decathlon champion and glamorous woman of the year,” she said, referring to her 2015 honor from Glamour magazine.
As she continues her gubernatorial campaign ahead of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recall election later this year, Jenner also told Buckley she plans to visit small towns across the state with a bus tour kicking off in mid-August.