Athlete who won dozens of medals has thrown most of them away after learning she is really a man

Xiao Nan, of Chengdu, won more than 40 medals as a women in student competitions after graduating from high school.

But after hospital tests confirmed Xiao's suspicions that she was really a man she has thrown out all but 10 of them.

"Being a champion was never a happy thing to me. Standing on the podium made me feel guilty, and I always thought the real champion should have been the one standing next to me," Xiao said.

But, inside, she felt confused: "I felt I often had an impulse or desire for women instead of men. And my body is more like a man than a woman."

Xiao had a check-up at a local hospital and the result confirmed she had male chromosomes.

He is now living as a man and has begun a course of sex change surgery at Sichuan Xichan Plastic Surgery Hospital which will take nine months.