Caitlyn Jenner poses on cover of sport illustrated with her gold medal, 40 years after

Celebrities: Caitlyn Jenner dazzles on the latest cover of Sports Illustrated showing off her Olympic medal in a shiny sequin jumpsuit, 40 years after winning the gold medal in the Olympic decathlon in Montreal. 

In an interview with the magazine, the 66 years old transgender spoke about her life as Bruce Jenner.

“The decathlon for me was the ultimate in what people think of as manhood,” Jenner says in the interview. “So for me it was a good place to hide. I had a need to prove myself, that maybe that woman that’s living inside of me really isn’t living there.”

Jenner said she's proud of that time in her life, being Bruce Jenner

“I loved what I was doing,” Jenner said. “I was the best in the world at what I did. But I knew that would be the last time. I kept thinking, ‘Hold on to the moment, hold on to the moment. Remember this moment, it’s going to be over so quickly. You’ve got a long life to live after this.”

“I was throwing out my past like it never happened,”Jenner continued. “And I’m very proud of those times. This was a big part of my past. It’s part of my life, it made me who I am.”

"What I’m dealing with now, this is about who you are as a human being. What did I do for the world in 1976, besides maybe getting a few people to exercise a little bit? I didn’t make a difference in the world," she said.

Jenner described herself as struggling with her body during those early days.

"It disgusted me," she said. "I was big and thick and masculine. The rest of the world thought it was this Greek god kind of body. I hated it. But it’s what I was given, so I just tried to do the best I could with it."

Jenner made her transition from Bruce to Caitlyn public in April of 2015. At the time she said, “For all intents and purposes, I’m a woman.” In June of 2015 Jenner she revealed her new name on the July 2015 cover of “Vanity Fair.”