Re: Sports steroids changed him from woman to man

[Guest guest]

I think it is important that we not confuse a state-run doping

program that identified and surreptitiously administered AAS to young

girls/women with the use of AAS by consenting adult males. Some

issues are shared, but most are quite different.

Jack Darkes, Ph.D.

Tampa FL

>

> There was a very shocking episode of " Secrets of the Dead " on PBS

not long ago, called " Doping for Gold " . It covered this case and

several more. It laid out what the East Germans were doing too.

>

> There's footage showing this athlete over time and others too.

>

> There are so many people who proclaim steroids safe and that

nothing will happen, the facts are there in many cases that there are

serious consequences and it's just as foolish as saying " cigarettes

don't kill people " in the face of the experience of many over time

there was well. The chilling fact that a good many steroid users do

not even blink at the possibility of harm down the road and willingly

use even in the high school ranks is something that should be

seriously examined and parents and officials should act in the

strictest manner to stop this problem, rather than wink at it and

award scholarships and acclaim.

>

> Instead there's anger at soda vending machines and other things

that might be a factor in harming our youth, but not the more serious

consequence of long term destruction that steroid usage can bring.

These were elite, healthy, and very carefully monitored athletes.

The arguments about " doctors monitor me, I am fine " should be

reconsidered by a good many given these cases too.

>

> The penalties to athletes caught publicly and those who many of the

youth look up to who openly admit breaking the rules should be made

far worse than they are. So far, killing some dogs has been more of

a penalty to an athlete than any breaking of the rules in a couple of

Olympiads!

>

> Success at any price sooner or later has a very steep price tag.

If you have to change your gender to win as a " female " , you shouldn't

be doing that sport.

>

> The Phantom

> aka Schaefer, CMT, CSCS, competing powerlifter

> Denver, Colorado, USA

>

> -------------- Original message --------------

>

> Apropos to the ongoing Olympics.

>

> Ralph Giarnella MD

> Southington Ct USA

> ***************************

> Athlete says sports steroids changed him from woman to man

>

> Story Highlights

> Shot-put star Heidi Krieger was fed steroids by East German coaches

> Athlete, who " just felt like a man, " had sex-change surgery in 1997

> Now called s, Krieger fears today's athletes don't know the

risks

> From Frederik Pleitgen

> CNN

> BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- Heidi Krieger proved herself one of the

world's top athletes in the 1980s, winning medal after medal in the

shot put for East Germany.

>

> Now, the former sports star looks disdainfully at the awards,

dismissing them as " doping medals " and honors that turned a woman

into a man.

>

> Heidi Krieger, the 1986 European women's shot-put champion, became

s Krieger after a sex-change operation in 1997. He says he had

been fed so many steroids by his coaches without his knowledge that

physical and emotional problems began.

>

> The young woman's physique changed drastically, as did her

feelings. " I felt much more attracted to women and just felt like a

man. But I knew I was not lesbian, " Krieger told CNN.

>

> Her coaches said they were giving her vitamin pills, but they were

actually feeding her Oral-Turinabol anabolic steroids. Watch how

Krieger's body changed »

>

> Krieger is among an estimated 10,000 East German athletes thought

to have been given performance-enhancing drugs to help build their

country into a sports powerhouse.

>

> In the 1970s and 1980s, the German Democratic Republic was one of

the most successful Olympic Games nations. But after the fall of

Soviet Communism, it was revealed just how much steroids were fueling

the medal machine. Sports leaders, including Manfred Ewald, the head

of East Germany's National Olympic Committee from 1973 until 1990,

were convicted in the doping programs.

>

> Krieger, who is now married and runs an army surplus store, says he

has taken his life into his own hands and does not want to be seen as

a victim.

>

> But he and other former East German athletes tricked by their

coaches are worried that too little has been learned from their

plight.

>

> Doping remains a major issue in sports, and many drug tests will be

conducted in Beijing, China, as officials try to catch any cheats

hoping to go undetected and get Olympic glory.

>

> Experts say the next step for sportsmen and women looking for an

illegal boost to physical performance could be gene therapy -- so-

called " gene doping. "

>

> Sports physician Willi Heepe said gene therapy means the body will

basically dope itself.

>

> If that happens, " the human monster will be a reality, " he told CNN.

>

> Krieger is worried that the pressure to win could create new

victims.

>

> " If today's athletes say they want to take the risk, they really

don't know what risk they are taking, " he said.

> All AboutDrugs in Sports • Summer Olympics • Gene Therapy

>

> Find this article at:

>

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/11/sexchange.athlete/index.htm

l

>

>

>

>