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http://www.pr-inside.com/german-pole-va ... 312297.htm

German pole-vaulter Yvonne Buschbaum retires, plans hormone treatment

BERLIN (AP) - German pole-vaulter Yvonne Buschbaum announced her retirement Wednesday, saying she had long felt as if she were «in the wrong body» and planned hormone treatment.
Buschbaum, 27, finished third at the European Championships in 1998 and 2002.
«I feel as if I am a man and have to live my life in the
body of a woman,» Buschbaum said in a statement on her Web site announcing her retirement. «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.

Buschbaum asked for respect for her decision and urged observers «not to draw false conclusions.
«I do not dope,» she said, adding that her «upcoming hormone treatment» contributed to her decision to quit, as did a persistent injury.

Here's another link with photo. Bubba

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 23,00.html

http://www.leichtathletik.de/index.php? ... sArchive=1

New name will be Balian, got the idea for the name from a movie.

You gotta do what you gotta do i guess lol.

I'm not into making judgements but I do know that If I became a girl, I would still get my butt kicked - BAD. Bubba

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show ... ature.html


The sky is no limit for gender-changed vaulter Buschbaum - Feature

Posted : Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:24:28 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Europe (World)

Frankfurt - Only the sky was the limit when Yvonne Buschbaum soared to big heights as one of the leading women's pole vaulters in Germany. Now the sky is wide open for Buschbaum, who feels the lightness of being after revealing her transsexuality last year and undergoing a gender change to Balian Buschbaum since then.

"Courage is the road to freedom. I woke up in complete freedom today. The sky is wide open," said a recent diary entry on his website.

Buschbaum is not ready yet for interviews as "I am still flying on my clouds of freedom and won't land until the end the November, at the earliest."

The necessary operations have also taken a toll on the 28-year-old.

"He is still a little weak from the surgery. But he can get up and is upbeat that he can leave for home on the weekend," said Buschbaum's former coach Herbert Czingon.

A year has passed since Buschbaum revealed that she felt like a man trapped in a women's body and would undergo the gender change to find her personal freedom.

She appeared in television talkshows and also won respect in the athletics scene for her courage.

But the medical implications of the gender change - the use of doping substances - required Buschbaum to quit pole vaulting, with European championship bronze medals from 1998 and 2002 the best results for the athlete with a personal best of 4.70 metres.

The shortly-cropped hair always made Buschbaum look boyish, but now facial hair and muscles are growing, and the voice is deeper. Buschbaum also has a new ID card as Balian Buschbaum.

"Some friends said happy birthday. As if the first testosterone shot was my second birthday. It was the start of a new life," she said in her diary shorty before christmas 2007 as the treatment started.

Things have gone well even though Buschbaum is at time a little unnerved by the wait for further treatment.

The use of testosterone has also given him a unique outlook at the doping issue because "I am living these changes" through the use of the forbidden steroid.

"I felt like an over-bred pitbull," Buschbaum recently told the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung, saying he was far more aggressive in training and could jump with poles Yvonne Buschbaum only dreamt of using.

Buschbaum is keeping fit through this training for an upcoming new role as pole vault coach at the USC Mainz club in central Germany.

"I wanted to leave my sport behind but I am more addicted to this drug pole vault than I thought," he said.

The sport may stay the same but Buschbaum will be a different person once the gender change is complete.

"The journey continues," he said in September ahead of another operation.

Here's an english version of a similar story. I'm not one to judge but you've got to love a person who goes through what she went through to become a he, and still can't quit the "pole vault drug". He'll probably be an outstanding coach and will have a blast jumping on bigger poles. Bubba

http://www.enews20.com/news_The_sky_is_ ... 14429.html

The sky is no limit for gender-changed vaulter Buschbaum

Frankfurt (dpa) - Only the sky was the limit when Yvonne Buschbaum soared to big heights as one of the leading women's pole vaulters in Germany.

Now the sky is wide open for Buschbaum, who feels the lightness of being after revealing her transsexuality last year and undergoing a gender change to Balian Buschbaum since then.

"Courage is the road to freedom. I woke up in complete freedom today. The sky is wide open," said a recent diary entry on his website.

Buschbaum is not ready yet for interviews as "I am still flying on my clouds of freedom and won't land until the end the November, at the earliest."

The necessary operations have also taken a toll on the 28-year-old.

"He is still a little weak from the surgery. But he can get up and is upbeat that he can leave for home on the weekend," said Buschbaum's former coach Herbert Czingon.

A year has passed since Buschbaum revealed that she felt like a man trapped in a women's body and would undergo the gender change to find her personal freedom.

She appeared in television talkshows and also won respect in the athletics scene for her courage.

But the medical implications of the gender change - the use of doping substances - required Buschbaum to quit pole vaulting, with European championship bronze medals from 1998 and 2002 the best results for the athlete with a personal best of 4.70 metres.

The shortly-cropped hair always made Buschbaum look boyish, but now facial hair and muscles are growing, and the voice is deeper. Buschbaum also has a new ID card as Balian Buschbaum.

"Some friends said happy birthday. As if the first testosterone shot was my second birthday. It was the start of a new life," she said in her diary shorty before christmas 2007 as the treatment started.

Things have gone well even though Buschbaum is at time a little unnerved by the wait for further treatment.

The use of testosterone has also given him a unique outlook at the doping issue because "I am living these changes" through the use of the forbidden steroid.

"I felt like an over-bred pitbull," Buschbaum recently told the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung, saying he was far more aggressive in training and could jump with poles Yvonne Buschbaum only dreamt of using.

Buschbaum is keeping fit through this training for an upcoming new role as pole vault coach at the USC Mainz club in central Germany.

"I wanted to leave my sport behind but I am more addicted to this drug pole vault than I thought," he said.

The sport may stay the same but Buschbaum will be a different person once the gender change is complete.

"The journey continues," he said in September ahead of another operation.

This just hit my favorite waste of time at work http://www.deadspin.com It brings issues to the table that many don't see, but deserve open and honest conversation!

Bubba PV wrote:I'm not into making judgements but I do know that If I became a girl, I would still get my butt kicked - BAD. Bubba

You might want to think about where you make those changes. I'm not sure The Woodlands is the most accepting venue in the USA for that transformation (I will be visiting your wonderfully warm hometown in January for my g-ma's 80th birthday. I'm looking forward to not seeing snow for a bit!)

It looks like Balian Buschbaum just released a book: http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3 ... okmooch-20

I would still like to know what he has jumped since beginning hormone treatment. I know early on he was was saying that he could get on poles "she" never would dream of. Bubba

The title of the book translates to: "Blue I stay blue. My life."