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A British competitor honored as the planet's most powerful female says she was deprived of her victory celebration after it was revealed the initial winner was a transgender woman who was not qualified to compete.

Andrea Thompson was awarded the title after the fact after US competitor the disqualified contestant was removed from competition.

Thompson explained to athletic press the event, held in Arlington, Texas, was overshadowed by somebody who wasn't eligible to participate.

"I felt extremely disappointed and upset with what she's done," she stated. "She lied and was very dishonest, and took away a lot of opportunities from a lot of women.

"The competitor that came 11th didn't get the chance to compete in the final day... to have the elite ranking in the world."

Event coordinators, the strongman organization, said "competitors could only participate in the division for their biological sex recorded at birth", and that they had disqualified the athlete in question "who was male by birth."

Event Background

Documentation show Booker took part in at least several additional female strength events this season - winning the Washington competition in June and finishing second at the continental championship in July.

Journalists were unable to reach Booker and the organization said "efforts had been made to contact the competitor... but a reply had not been obtained."

Thompson, 43, ultimately became the world's strongest woman for the second occasion, having previously won the title in 2018.

But it was only following this year's event finished that she discovered her rival had been not qualified to participate.

"There was nothing at all during the event - no-one had any reason to question anything," said the parent from East Anglia.

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

"It's a significant accomplishment that's been overshadowed by some deception."

Event Particulars

Strength contests have no single regulatory authority, rather, private organizations run a variety of events.

The Global Female Strength championship is awarded at the Official Strongman Games, run by a UK-registered company.

More than four hundred competitors from nearly forty nations participated in this year's event, which organisers describe as "one of the highest points of the power sports community."

The Competition included events across various gender, weight and age categories.

Thompson and the American competitor were in the Female Open division and competed in half-dozen disciplines over multiple days, including the log press, timber frame carry and progressive deadlift.

Rules and Qualifications

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

"Evidence suggests that an competitor who is male by birth and who currently self-identifies as female participated in the Women's Open division... officials were unaware of this fact ahead of the competition."

In 2023, the state enacted a regulation prohibiting "males by birth from participating with women competitors", although this is limited to higher education athletics in the state.

Thompson thinks strongwoman events may introduce gender verification in the future.

"I suppose it's going to have to proceed along that path... but our sport is still quite new. There's not enough funding in it to have these procedures in operation. We depend on the integrity of the athletes."

Wider Sports Landscape

In recent years, a growing number of athletic organizations have barred competitors who have gone through puberty as males from competing in elite female competition, amid concerns over fairness and safety, including international swimming and athletics bodies.

In May, major British athletic organizations were among a group of institutions to follow suit, after the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on birth sex.

The decisions have been opposed by trans rights activists, who contend they could infringe upon human rights and maintain inclusion should be emphasized.

Both global track and field and boxing bodies implemented genetic sex screening this year, asserting it is needed to safeguard the fairness of female sports.

An official from international athletics has claimed that between 50 and 60 competitors who experienced puberty as males have been top placers in the women's division in global and continental athletics championships since the year two thousand.