Former Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner has told American TV viewers: “For all intents and purposes, I am a woman.”

Jenner, 65, spoke in a long-awaited interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, saying that he has always been confused about his gender identity.

Early in the interview, Jenner took out his ponytail to let his long hair flow behind him.

Bruce Jenner
(Mark Von Holden/AP/PA)

“My brain is more female than it is male,” says Jenner, the 1976 Olympic champion better known in recent years as part of television’s omnipresent Kardashian family.

Jenner, who fought back tears, said it was hard for him to talk about his gender issues because he did not want to disappoint people.

But he said he hoped that speaking publicly about the gender issues would do some good in the world and vigorously denied that the interview was a publicity stunt to promote the Kardashian reality TV show.

“If the Kardashian show gave me a foothold to do some good, I’m all for that,” Jenner said.

Bruce Jenner
(Terry Renna/AP/PA)

Jenner said he self-identifies as “her”, not a specific name. But he told Sawyer he felt comfortable using the pronouns “he” and “him”, a designation that is an important issue for many in the transgender community.

As a young boy, Jenner felt an urge to try on his mother’s and sister’s dresses. “I didn’t know why I was doing it,” he said. “It just made me feel good.”

Jenner said he told his first two wives about the gender confusion and it was a factor in the break-up of his second marriage. During the 1980s, he began taking hormones, had surgery to make his nose smaller and was having hair removed from his face and chest.

Jenner said he has never been sexually attracted to men, and he wanted to make clear to viewers that gender identity and sexuality were separate things.

Bruce Jenner with his then wife Kris Jenner in 2009
Bruce Jenner with his third wife Kris in 2009 (Katy Winn/AP/PA)

“I am not gay,” he said. “I am, as far as I know, heterosexual. I’ve always been with a woman, raising kids.”

Jenner had said sorry to people in his life hurt by the gender identity issues, he said.

“I’ve apologised to everybody,” he said. “I’ve apologised my whole life.”