Athlete: Steroid Use Led to Sexual Reassignment Surgery

East German Shot-Put Champs Says Steroid Use Led to Sexual Reassignment Surgery

For two decades, the EastGermans were medal powerhouses. They dominated several sports, including swimming and track and field.

Now, in an interview with CNN, former East German athlete Heidi Krieger, the 1986 shot put World Champion, tells the network how her experiences as an athlete changed her life… drastically.

In
the ‘80s, Krieger competed for the German Democratic Republic in the
track and field events, medaling in the shot-put. Unbeknownst to her,
however, her coaches were loading her system with huge doses of
Oral-Turinabol anabolic steroids. The whole time, Krieger believed
these steroids to be a vitamin pill.

As her shot put career
ended, she continued to feel the aftermath of her steroid use. As she
told CNN, “I felt much more attracted to women and just felt like a
man. But I knew I was not a lesbian.”

Confused, and feeling she
had been left with all the traits of a man except for one important
biological trait, in 1997, Heidi had sexual reassignment surgery and
became Andreas Krieger.

In 2000, Krieger testified in the trial of Manfred Ewald and Manfred Hoeppner. Ewald headed up the East German National Olympic Committee from 1973-90, and Hoeppner was the East German medical director.

"I
was no longer Heidi Krieger," Krieger told the court during the trial.
"I didn't know any more who I was. The pills accelerated any
transsexual tendencies I may already have had. I wasn't able to
identify with my body anymore and that led me to undergo a sex change."...