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An English athlete crowned the world's strongest woman claims she was robbed of her victory celebration after it emerged the initial winner was a trans female who was ineligible to compete.

The British strongwoman was granted the title after the fact after American athlete Jammie Booker was removed from competition.

Thompson explained to athletic press the competition, held in the Texas city of Arlington, was overshadowed by an individual who shouldn't have been there.

"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 things from a lot of female athletes.

"The competitor that finished 11th didn't get the chance to do the third day... to have the top 10 status in the world."

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

Event Details

Records show the disqualified athlete took part in at least two other strongwoman events this year - taking first place at the Washington competition in summer and finishing second at North America's Strongest Woman in mid-summer.

Sports media were unable to reach Booker and event officials confirmed "an attempt had been made to get in touch with the athlete... but a reply had not been received."

The champion, forty-three, ultimately was declared the global female strength champion for the second time, having earlier won the title in 2018.

But it was only after this season's event finished that she learned her opponent had been not qualified to participate.

"There was nothing at all during the event - nobody had any cause to question anything," said the mother of two from East Anglia.

"It was about several hours after that the initial speculation started going round, and then the officials contacted me.

"It represents a significant achievement that's been marred by some dishonesty."

Event Particulars

Power competitions have no unified governing body, rather, independent groups organize a variety of events.

The World's Strongest Woman title is presented at the International Strength Competition, organized by a UK-registered company.

More than four hundred athletes from approximately 40 countries took part in this year's competition, which coordinators characterize as "among the pinnacles of the strength world."

The Games included contests across various sex, weight and age categories.

The British athlete and the American competitor were in the Women's Open category and competed in six events over three days, including the log press, timber frame carry and deadlift ladder.

Rules and Eligibility

An announcement from the organization said: "Competitors are placed to men's or women's divisions based on whether they are registered as male or woman at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an competitor who is biologically male and who currently self-identifies as female participated in the Female Open category... officials were unaware of this fact ahead of the competition."

In 2023, the state enacted a law banning "biological men from participating with female athletes", although this only applies to college and university sport in the state.

The champion believes strongwoman events may introduce sex screening in the coming years.

"I suppose it's going to have to proceed along that route... but our sport is still relatively recent. There's not enough funding in it to have these procedures in place. We rely on the honesty of the competitors."

Broader Sports Context

In the past few seasons, a growing quantity of sports federations have barred athletes who have gone through male puberty from participating in top-level female competition, amid concerns over fairness and safety, including international swimming and athletics bodies.

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

The decisions have been opposed by transgender advocacy campaigners, who contend they could violate human rights and maintain inclusion should be emphasized.

Both international athletics 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 claimed that between fifty to sixty competitors who experienced male puberty have been finalists in the female category in global and continental athletics championships since the year two thousand.