Bruce Jenner Expected to Make Transgender History in Interview

Nearly 40 years after his record-breaking Olympic gold-medal win in the decathlon, Bruce Jenner will likely make history in a different realm on Friday, with an interview in which he is expected to disclose his transition to life as a woman.

The 65-year-old Jenner, known to younger generations as the patriarch of reality TV's Kardashian clan, will ostensibly become the most high-profile American to come out as transgender with his first public comments on the issue.

Jenner sat down for an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, which will air Friday night on a special two-hour edition of "20/20" starting at 9 p.m. ET.

Neither Jenner nor his representatives have commented on a transition that has been widely rumored, but never substantiated. That has not stopped magazines from running cover stories of Jenner's supposed transition and how his family is reacting to it.

ABC's teasers for the interview have shed little light on what is to come in the special. In a video clip released Thursday, Jenner says, "It is going to be an emotional rollercoaster, but somehow I am going to get through it" and, referring to his family, "I can't let myself hurt them."

Sporting long hair and sitting on a couch, Jenner is seen telling Sawyer, "I want to know how this story ends."

Jenner has six biological children and four step-children in the Kardashian family through his ex-wife Kris Jenner, the manager and mother of the stars in E! Entertainment's "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."

Jenner won the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal and broke the world record for points in the 10-event competition in which winners are given the unofficial title of "World's Greatest Athlete."