🔗 Share this article

An English athlete crowned the world's strongest woman says she was deprived of her winning moment after it emerged the initial winner was a transgender woman who was ineligible to compete.

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

The champion told sports media the competition, held in Arlington, Texas, was overshadowed by an individual who shouldn't have been there.

"I felt very disappointed and angry with what she's done," she said. "She was untruthful and was very dishonest, and took away a lot of things from a lot of female athletes.

"The lady that came 11th didn't get the opportunity to compete in the third day... to have the elite ranking in the world."

Organisers, the competition body, stated "competitors could only compete in the category for their birth sex recorded at birth", and that they had eliminated the athlete in dispute "who was male by birth."

Event Background

Records indicate the disqualified athlete participated in at least several additional strongwoman events this year - taking first place at the Washington competition in summer and placing runner-up at the continental championship in mid-summer.

Sports media could not contact Booker and event officials confirmed "an attempt had been made to get in touch with the athlete... but a reply had not been obtained."

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

But it was only following this year's competition concluded that she discovered her opponent had been ineligible to compete.

"There was nothing at all during the event - no-one had any cause to suspect any issues," said the parent from Suffolk.

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

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

Competition Particulars

Power competitions have no unified regulatory authority, instead, independent groups organize a range of events.

The World's Strongest Woman championship is awarded at the Official Strongman Games, run by a UK-registered organization.

More than four hundred athletes from nearly 40 countries took part in this season's competition, which organisers describe as "one of the pinnacles of the strength world."

The Games featured contests across multiple gender, body mass and years classifications.

The British athlete and Booker were in the Women's Open category and competed in half-dozen events over three days, including the overhead press, timber frame carry and deadlift ladder.

Rules and Eligibility

An announcement from the organization said: "Competitors are placed to male or female categories based on whether they are registered as man or woman at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women's Open division... officials were not informed of this fact prior to the event."

In 2023, Texas introduced a regulation prohibiting "males by birth from competing against women competitors", although this is limited to college and university athletics in the state.

The champion thinks female strength events may implement gender verification in the coming years.

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

Broader Sports Landscape

In the past few seasons, a growing quantity of sports federations have prohibited athletes who have gone through puberty as males from competing in top-level women's events, amid concerns over fairness and safety, including global aquatics and athletics bodies.

In May, prominent UK athletic organizations were among a number of institutions to follow suit, after the Britain's highest court's decision that the legal definition of a woman is based on birth sex.

The moves have been challenged by transgender advocacy campaigners, who contend they could violate human rights and maintain participation should be prioritised.

Both global track and field and pugilism organizations implemented genetic sex screening this season, claiming it is necessary to safeguard the fairness of women's competition.

An official from international athletics has stated that between fifty to sixty competitors who went through puberty as males have been top placers in the women's division in global and continental track and field championships since 2000.