The winner of a World’s Strongest Woman contest has been stripped of her title following claims that she was born male.
The debate surrounding transgender participation in sport has intensified in recent years, dividing public opinion and sparking strong opposition in some circles.
A World’s Strongest Woman contest recently came under heavy scrutiny after the winner, the US’ Jammie Booker, was accused of being born a biological male.
The event, which took place in Arlington, Texas, saw the UK’s Andrea Thompson – the 2018 champion – react angrily after finishing as runner-up.
Thompson missed out on winning the contest by just one point in the open women’s category, which has no weight limit.
Following the final on November 23, Thompson walked off stage claiming the result was “bull****”. Booker, meanwhile, celebrated her victory. A debate has played out since then regarding Booker’s gender after a YouTube video from 2017 surfaced that appeared to confirm the competitor was born a biological male.
The video in question, said to have been uploaded to Booker’s own YouTube channel, shows the strongwoman saying: “Everyone is dying to tell their own story, and I am obviously no exception to that.
“I’m a 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.”
Following that admission, there were widespread calls for Booker to be stripped of her new title. According to Strongman Archives, Booker had not competed in a women’s event prior to June 2025, when she appeared at the Rainier Classic-Pro-Am.
Official Strongman later stated on social media that they were unaware of the allegations before the event, saying it “appears that an athlete who is biologically male and now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category”.
The organization added that Booker would not have been allowed to compete in the competition had they known about the situation, revealing that she had since been disqualified.
The statement continued: “Any athlete is welcome. But it is our responsibility to ensure fairness and make sure athletes are assigned to men’s or women’s categories based on whether they are recorded as male or female at birth.
“Given this, we have disqualified the athlete in question from the Official Strongman World Championships 2025.
“All athlete points and placements will be adjusted accordingly to ensure the rightful places are allocated to each of the Women’s Open athletes.”
As a result of the ruling, Thompson is now the event’s recognized winner.
“What should have been a momentous occasion has sadly been overshadowed by scandal and dishonesty from someone who was welcomed into our crazy sport,” Thompson wrote in a statement on social media.
“A sport that encourages women to celebrate themselves without being judged by how society says they should be.
“I can honestly say that no one, including the @officialstrongmangames team, had any clue what was about to happen. No one had any reason to suspect otherwise.
“I am not only frustrated about not being able to celebrate a win, but also for the ladies who had their time to shine on the podium or reach the final day taken away from them.”
