The American competitor was disqualified from the global female strength competition
An English competitor honored as the planet's most powerful female says she was robbed of her victory celebration after it emerged the original champion was a trans female who was not qualified to compete.
Andrea Thompson was granted the championship retrospectively after American athlete the disqualified contestant was removed from competition.
The champion told athletic press the event, held in Arlington, Texas, was clouded by somebody who shouldn't have been there.
"I felt very frustrated and angry with her actions," she said. "She lied and was very dishonest, and deprived a lot of things from a lot of female athletes.
"The lady that came 11th was denied the chance to compete in the third day... to have the top 10 status in the world."
Event coordinators, the strongman organization, stated "competitors could only participate in the category for their biological sex registered at birth", and that they had eliminated the competitor in question "who was biologically male."
Event Background
Documentation indicate Booker participated in at least two other strongwoman competitions this year - winning the Washington competition in June and placing runner-up at the continental championship in July.
Journalists were unable to contact the athlete and the organization confirmed "an attempt had been made to get in touch with the athlete... but a reply had not been obtained."
Thompson had initially finished second to the American athlete
The champion, 43, eventually was declared the world's strongest woman for the second occasion, having previously claimed the title in two thousand eighteen.
But it was only after this season's competition finished that she discovered her rival had been ineligible to compete.
"There existed no indication at all during the event - nobody had any cause to suspect anything," said the mother of two from Suffolk.
"It happened about several hours after that the first rumours started going round, and then the organisers notified me.
"It's a massive achievement that's been overshadowed by some dishonesty."
Event Particulars
Strength contests have no unified governing body, instead, private organizations run a range of competitions.
The Global Female Strength championship is awarded at the Official Strongman Games, run by a UK-registered organization.
More than four hundred athletes from approximately forty nations participated in this season's competition, which organisers characterize as "one of the highest points of the power sports community."
The Games featured contests across various sex, body mass and age classifications.
The British athlete and the American competitor were in the Women's Open division and competed in six events over three days, including the overhead press, timber frame carry and deadlift ladder.
Regulations and Eligibility
An announcement from event officials stated: "Competitors are assigned to male or women's divisions based on whether they are recorded as man or female at birth.
"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is male by birth and who currently self-identifies as female participated in the Female Open division... officials were not informed of this fact prior to the competition."
In twenty twenty-three, Texas introduced a law prohibiting "biological men from competing against women competitors", although this is limited to higher education athletics in the region.
Thompson thinks female strength competitions may implement gender verification in the future.
"I guess it's going to have to go down that route... but our discipline is still relatively recent. There's not enough money in it to have these procedures in place. We depend on the integrity of the competitors."
Broader Sports Landscape
In the past few seasons, a growing number of athletic organizations have barred athletes who have gone through puberty as males from participating in elite women's events, amid concerns over equity and protection, including global aquatics and athletics organizations.
In spring, prominent UK athletic organizations were among a number of associations to implement similar policies, after the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the official classification of a female is based on biological sex.
The decisions have been opposed by transgender advocacy activists, who argue they could infringe upon human rights and maintain inclusion should be emphasized.
Both international athletics and pugilism bodies introduced chromosomal testing this year, claiming it is necessary to safeguard the integrity of women's competition.
An official from the global track organization has claimed that between 50 and 60 athletes who went through puberty as males have been finalists in the women's division in international and regional track and field championships since the year two thousand.
