Epilogue to the East German doping scandal of female athletes

Andreas Kreiger and  Ute Krause

Andreas Krieger (born Heidi Krieger on 20 July 1966 in Berlin) is a former German shot putter, who competed in the East German athletics team. Like many prominent East German Olympians at the time, Krieger was systematically doped with anabolic steroids.

 

Andreas Kreiger: before and after 

At the 1986 European Championships in Athletics, Krieger won the gold medal in the shot put event. She retired in 1990. In 1997 Heidi, realizing that the steroids had left her with all the traits of a man except a penis, felt she had no choice but to undergo sex reassignment surgery and change her name to Andreas.

The current head coach of the South African track team, is Dr Ekkart Arbeit, Krieger's former East German coach. Krieger blamed Arbeit for the anabolic steroids that caused her to undergo a sex-change operation.

Krieger gave evidence at the trial of Manfred Ewald, leader of the East German sports program and president of his East Germany's Olympic committee and Manfred Hoeppner, East German medical director in Berlin in 2000. He testified that the drugs he had been given had contributed to his transsexuality. Both Ewald and Hoepner were convicted of accessory to the intentional bodily harm of athletes, including minors.

The "Heidi Krieger Medal" (German: Heidi-Krieger-Medaille), named after Krieger, is now awarded annually to Germans who combat doping. Krieger's gold medal from 1986 forms part of the trophy.

Krieger is married to former East German swimmer Ute Krause, who was also a victim of massive doping by East German sports officials. Krieger experienced severe health problems since retiring. He can only withstand mild exertion, and is unable to sleep on his side due to years of lifting massive amounts of weight while using steroids.

The PBS series Secrets of the Dead also featured Krieger in an episode covering the doping of East German athletes by the East German government covered-up by the Stasi.

In 2008 Ukrainian filmmakers released the documentary "Doping. Factory of Champions" based on Krieger's story.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Krieger

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