"I feel as if I am a man and have to live my life in the body of a woman," Buschbaum said. "I am aware of the fact that transsexuality is a fringe issue, and I do not want to be responsible for it remaining on the fringe."

This month, Buschbaum, who was sixth at the Sydney Olympics, has had gender reassignment surgery after months of steroid treatment. He has changed his first name to Balian, inspired by the character of a blacksmith in a movie called Kingdom of Heaven.

Buschbaum wrote on his website recently: "Courage is the road to freedom. I woke up in complete freedom today. The sky is wide open. I am still flying on my clouds of freedom and won't land until the end of November, at the earliest."

Buschbaum, 28, has retired from competition because his continuing medication would bring about a positive drug test but he said he wanted to remain in the sport as a pole vault coach.

He told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that the drugs made him stronger and more aggressive, "like an overbred pitbull".