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An English competitor honored as the world's strongest woman says she was deprived of her victory celebration after it emerged the initial winner was a trans female who was ineligible to compete.

Andrea Thompson was awarded the championship retrospectively after US competitor the disqualified contestant was disqualified.

The champion explained to athletic press the event, held in the Texas city of Arlington, was overshadowed by somebody who shouldn't have been there.

"I was very frustrated and angry with what she's done," she stated. "She was untruthful and was very deceptive, and took away a lot of things from a lot of women.

"The competitor that came 11th was denied the chance to do the third day... to achieve the top 10 status in the world."

Organisers, the strongman organization, stated "competitors could only compete in the division for their birth sex registered at birth", and that they had eliminated the competitor in question "who is biologically male."

Event Background

Records indicate Booker participated in at least several additional female strength competitions this year - taking first place at the Washington competition in summer and placing runner-up at North America's Strongest Woman in July.

Journalists were unable to reach the athlete and event officials said "an attempt had been made to contact the competitor... but a response had not been received."

Thompson, forty-three, eventually was declared the world's strongest woman for the second time, having earlier won the title in two thousand eighteen.

But it was only after this season's competition concluded that she discovered her rival had been not qualified to compete.

"There existed no indication at all during the competition - nobody had any reason to question anything," said the mother of two from East Anglia.

"It was about several hours after that the first rumours started circulating, and then the organisers notified me.

"It's a massive accomplishment that's been marred by some dishonesty."

Competition Details

Power competitions have no single governing body, instead, private organizations organize a variety of events.

The World's Strongest Woman title is awarded at the International Strength Competition, organized by a British company.

More than four hundred competitors from approximately forty nations participated in this season's competition, which coordinators characterize as "among the pinnacles of the strength world."

The Games featured events across multiple gender, body mass and age classifications.

Thompson and the American competitor were in the Women's Open division and participated in half-dozen events over multiple days, including the log press, frame carrying and progressive deadlift.

Rules and Eligibility

A statement from event officials stated: "Athletes are assigned to male or women's categories based on whether they are recorded as man or woman at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an competitor who is biologically male and who now identifies as a woman competed in the Female Open category... organizers were not informed of this situation ahead of the event."

In 2023, Texas enacted a regulation banning "biological men from competing against female athletes", although this is limited to college and university sport in the region.

Thompson believes female strength events may implement sex screening in the future.

"I guess it's going to have to proceed along that path... but our sport is still quite new. There's insufficient money in it to have these procedures in place. We depend on the honesty of the competitors."

Wider Sports Landscape

In the past few seasons, a increasing number of sports federations have prohibited athletes who have gone through male puberty from participating in elite women's events, amid apprehensions over equity and safety, including global aquatics and track and field bodies.

In spring, major UK athletic organizations were among a number of institutions to implement similar policies, after the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on birth sex.

The decisions have been challenged by trans rights campaigners, who argue they could violate individual freedoms and maintain participation should be prioritised.

Both global track and field and boxing organizations implemented genetic sex screening this year, asserting it is necessary to protect the fairness of women's competition.

A representative from the global track organization has stated that between fifty to sixty athletes who went through puberty as males have been finalists in the female category in international and regional athletics championships since the year two thousand.