Erik Schinegger

Diagnoses

Passions

Vocation

Family

Austrian intersex and transgender skier, a world champion in 1966. Designated female at birth, Schinegger was born with male genitalia that had not descended inside of what seemed to be a female body. Raised in a south Austrian mountain village, Erika skied as soon as she could walk. Winning meets and setting records, she moved into the Olympic category. Before the Olympic games, the team members took routine medical tests. Schinegger was disbarred when found to have more male than female hormones in her body. At 19, she faced a grave decision. She checked into the Clinic the day after Christmas 1967 where she had four surgeries in the next six months. She went from Erika - to Erik. Erik worked in the family hotel resort and ski school. A few years later, he met Renate, and they married in 1975. Their daughter Claire was born on 8 April 1978. Their photo shows a handsome, husky young man with an attractive family. Together with Marco Schenz, Schinegger published an autobiography in 1988 titled Mein Sieg über mich. Der Mann, der Weltmeisterin wurde ("My Victory over Myself: The Man Who Became a Female World Champion"). He was also the subject of a 2005 documentary film by Kurt Mayer called Erik(A), with music by Olga Neuwirth. In 1988, on a television show broadcast by the Austrian ORF network, Schinegger gave his 1966 gold medal to the second-place finisher, Marielle Goitschel. Link to Wikipedia biography