A trans athlete who was crowned "World's Strongest Woman" in Texas has been stripped of the title after organisers were unaware they were born a "biological male".
American competitor Jammie Booker secured first place ahead of Britain's Andrea Thompson, causing outrage amongst the community.
The incident has reignited fierce debate within the strength sports community about fairness and eligibility in women's competitions.
Since the verdict, the organisers of the event revealed they had "disqualified” Booker and that they were “unaware” of the athlete's gender status.
A statement read: "We wanted to provide an update on what is happening following the Official Strongman Games World Championships 2025 which were held in Arlington, Texas over the weekend.
"It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category.
"Official Strongman officials were unaware of this fact ahead of the competition and we have been urgently investigating since being informed.
"An attempt has been made to contact the competitor involved but a response has not been received."
A trans athlete who was crowned 'World's Strongest Woman' in Texas has had her title stripped
|The organisation added if they were aware of Booker’s gender identity, “this athlete would not have been permitted to compete in the Women’s Open category”.
Britain's Andrea Thompson, who appeared to storm off the podium in protest after finishing second, has now been crowned the winner.
Three-time World's Strongest Woman champion Rebecca Roberts joined the debate, sharing an image reading "Protect Women's Sports" alongside a full statement.
She wrote: "Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category."
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Strongman Games were unaware they were born a 'biological male'
|The athlete added: "This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else.
"Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.
"What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack.
"My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only. I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever."
Since the verdict, the organisers of the event revealed they had 'disqualified' Booker
|Thompson's coach, Laurence Shahlaei, publicly congratulated his client on social media, declaring her the victor of the 2025 World's Strongest Woman competition.
He wrote: "A huge congratulations to my client but more importantly, my very good friend @andreathompson_strongwoman for winning the World’s Strongest Woman 2025.
"You worked your ass off for this and I’m so proud of you. You absolutely dominated the deadlift, log and circus dumbbell and while there are still a couple of weaknesses to work on, you were still the strongest woman on the day.
"This win hasn’t come without controversy, but I want to make it very clear that while I support and applaud people for being who they want to be, sport is sport and the women’s classes exist for a reason."
Andrea Thompson has now been declared the 2025 World's Strongest Woman
| INSTAGRAMBooker posted a message to social media to congratulate her fellow athletes and address the controversy.
She said: "You are all insanely bada** women, and it was an honour just to even share the stage with you and to be there to cheer you on and be cheered on by you.
"I genuinely did not expect this outcome and I’m not saying that in a way to gloat or be prideful. When I signed up for this competition I did not expect to win – it was a pipe dream.”
"Obviously everyone enters a competition wanting to win but I did not think this would be the one for me and the fact that it is, I’m genuinely lost for words. I don’t know what comes next, I don’t know where I’ll compete next… I just want to say thank you to all of you from the bottom of my heart. It’s really surreal.”
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