Background
Schinegger was born in Agsdorf, Carinthia, and raised as a girl.
Schinegger was born in Agsdorf, Carinthia, and raised as a girl.
In 1967, as he was preparing for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, a medical test by the International Olympic Committee (International Olympic Committee) determined that Schinegger was male, with internal male sex organs, and disqualified him. Schinegger ultimately decided to live as a man and transitioned, undergoing medical treatment and changing his name to Erik. Together with Marco Schenz, Schinegger published an autobiography in 1988 titled Mein Sieg über michigan
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.