Erik Schinegger (born 19 June 1948) is an Austrian intersex skier. He was the women's downhill ski world champion in 1966, at which time he was recognized as female and known as Erika Schinegger. [1]
Erik Schinegger (born 19 June 1948) is an Austrian intersex skier. He was the women's downhill ski world champion in 1966, at which time he was recognized as female and known as Erika Schinegger. [1]
Schinegger was born in Agsdorf, Carinthia, and raised as a girl.
Schinegger first attracted attention when he finished third in the downhill in Grindelwald on 14 January 1966 with start no. 24 and thus contributed to an ÖSV quadruple success (Christl Haas, Edith Zimmermann; fourth Traudl Hecher). He also won the downhill in St-Gervais on 29 January with a lead of 1.53 sec. over Nancy Greene and on 25 March 1966 the downhill in Sun Valley in the "Five Nations Competition" (again ahead of Greene). [2] [3] [4]
Schinegger's greatest success was winning the women's downhill world championship title at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 in Portillo, Chile a month after his eighteenth birthday. At the Gold Key Race in Schruns, Schinegger finished second on 18 January 1967, followed by his only victory in an World Cup Race, a giant slalom, on 28 January 1967 in Saint-Gervais. In February 1967, Schinegger won the Austrian Championships in the giant slalom.
Before the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, a medical examination revealed that Schinegger was genetically male. Schinegger, whose sex had not been correctly identified for years due to inward growing genitals, a so-called pseudohermaphroditism, decided to have surgery and change his first name from Erika to Erik.
Schinegger was not retroactively stripped of the World Champion title of 1966, but the then runner-up Marielle Goitschel was retroactively awarded the gold medal as well. In 1988 Schinegger himself presented his World Championship gold medal to Marielle Goitschel, [5] however, she gave him back the medal. [6] Schinegger married and became father of a daughter in 1978. [5] He lives as owner of a children's ski school and two inns in his hometown Agsdorf in Carinthia and has two grandsons. [7]
In 1988 Erik Schinegger wrote together with Marco Schenz the book Mein Sieg über mich. The man who became world champion, in which he came to terms with his life. This book was very successful, especially in the French translation. Schinegger's story was depicted in 2005 by Kurt Mayer in the documentary film ERIK(A) - Der Mann der Weltmeisterin wurde. [8] At the 53rd Trento Film Festival the film was awarded the "Silver Gentian" in the same year. [9]
In 2014, he took part in the ORF show Dancing Stars, but dropped out prematurely due to injury. [10] In 2015, he served as councilor in his home municipality of Sankt Urban. [5]
On 17 March 2017, a major fire occurred on Schinegger's estate in Agsdorf, completely burning down the entire farm building. [11]
In the 2018 feature film Erik & Erika by Reinhold Bilgeri from, his life was again portrayed, with Markus Freistätter in the leading role. Titled One like Erika, the film was shown on Ersten on 25 November 2020.
Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, usually known as simply Klagenfurt, is the capital of the state of Carinthia in Austria. With a population of 104.333, it is the sixth-largest city in the country. The city is the bishop's seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt and home to the University of Klagenfurt, the Carinthian University of Applied Sciences and the Gustav Mahler University of Music.
Villach is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. As of January 2018, the population is 61,887.
Anton Engelbert "Toni" Sailer was an Austrian alpine ski racer, considered among the best in the sport. At age 20, he won all three gold medals in alpine skiing at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He nearly duplicated the feat at the 1958 World Championships with two golds and a silver. He also won world titles both years in the combined, then a "paper" race, but awarded with medals by the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carinthian Slovene dialects, forms of a South Slavic language that predominated in the southeastern part of the region up to the first half of the 20th century, are now spoken by a small minority in the area.
1966 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
1964 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
Val-d'Isère, nicknamed Valdi, is a commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie department in southeastern France. It lies 5 km (3 mi) from the border with Italy. It is on the border of the Vanoise National Park created in 1963. During the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics, the Face de Bellevarde was the site of the men's downhill race. Other alpine skiing events held during those games included men's giant slalom and alpine combined. Val d'Isère regularly hosts World Cup alpine events, usually for the men in early December, and hosted the World Championships in 2009. It is located in the Savoie région with good transport links in and out of Lyon, Geneva and Chambéry. The ski area of Val d'Isère and Tignes forms the Espace Killy, named after the triple Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy who grew up in Val d'Isère. There are two mountain huts owned by the Vanoise National Park on the territory of Val d'Isère: le Refuge du Prariond and le Refuge du Fond des Fours.
Lasse Kjus is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway. He won the overall World Cup title twice, an Olympic gold medal, and several World Championships. His combined career total of 16 Olympic and World Championship medals ranks second all-time behind fellow Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt.
Lienz is a medieval town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative centre of the Lienz district, which covers all of East Tyrol. The municipality also includes the cadastral subdivision of Patriasdorf.
The 1st World Cup races began in early January in West Germany and concluded in late March in the United States. Jean-Claude Killy of France dominated the men's competition, winning each of the three disciplines and the overall title. Nancy Greene of Canada edged out Marielle Goitschel of France for the women's overall title, her first of two consecutive titles, defending successfully in 1968.
Christine Béranger-Goitschel is a former French alpine skier. She is the elder sister of fellow champion skier Marielle Goitschel and the aunt of the former speed skier Philippe Goitschel. Her sister Patricia was a national junior champion in the slalom in 1964.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1966 were held in South America from 4–14 August at Portillo, Chile.
Serge Lang was a French journalist, alpine skier, and the founder of the alpine skiing World Cup. As a journalist he covered alpine skiing, cycling, and other sports for five major publications. In the mid-1960s, he envisioned a season-long series of ski races, which became the World Cup skiing circuit. He continued to guide the growth of the World Cup and the sport of ski racing over the next two decades.
Marielle Goitschel is a French former alpine skier. Marielle is the younger sister of Christine Goitschel, another champion skier of the time, and the aunt of speed skier Philippe Goitschel.
Jean Marlene Saubert was an alpine ski racer from the United States. She won two medals in the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria. After graduating from college, Saubert became an educator.
Blizzard is an Austrian sports equipment company, based in Mittersill, Salzburg, Austria. Blizzard is currently a division of the italian Tecnica Group S.p.A. and is specialized in the manufacturing of alpine skiing equipment, more specifically skis and accessories.
Lara Gut-Behrami is a Swiss World Cup alpine ski racer who competes in all disciplines and specializes in the speed events of downhill and Super-G. She won the gold medal in the Super-G event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Erika "Riki" Mahringer was an Austrian alpine skier.
Matthias Mayer is an Austrian retired World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic champion.
The Women's Downhill competition of the Grenoble 1968 Olympics was held at Chamrousse on Saturday, 10 February.
