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A British competitor honored as the planet's most powerful female claims she was robbed of her victory celebration after it was revealed the initial winner was a trans female who was ineligible to compete.

Andrea Thompson was awarded the title retrospectively after American athlete the disqualified contestant was removed from competition.

The champion explained to athletic press the event, held in the Texas city of Arlington, was clouded by somebody who shouldn't have been there.

"I felt extremely disappointed and angry with what she's done," she stated. "She was untruthful and was very dishonest, and deprived a lot of things from a lot of women.

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

Organisers, the strongman organization, said "competitors could only participate in the division for their birth sex recorded at birth", and that they had eliminated the competitor in dispute "who is male by birth."

Event Details

Documentation show Booker participated in at least two other female strength events this year - taking first place at the Washington competition in summer and finishing second at the continental championship in July.

Journalists could not reach Booker and the organization said "an attempt had been made to get in touch with the athlete... but a response had not been obtained."

The champion, 43, ultimately became the global female strength champion for the second time, having previously claimed the title in 2018.

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

"There was no indication at all during the event - nobody had any cause to question anything," said the mother of two from Suffolk.

"It happened about several hours after that the initial speculation started circulating, and then the officials notified me.

"It represents a massive achievement that's been overshadowed by some deception."

Competition Details

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

The Global Female Strength title is awarded at the International Strength Competition, organized by a UK-registered organization.

More than 400 competitors from nearly 40 nations took part in this season's event, which coordinators characterize as "among the highest points of the strength world."

The Competition included contests across various gender, weight and age categories.

The British athlete and Booker were in the Female Open division and participated in six disciplines over multiple days, including the overhead press, frame carrying and progressive deadlift.

Rules and Eligibility

An announcement from the organization said: "Athletes are assigned to men's or women's categories based on whether they are recorded as man or woman at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an competitor who is male by birth and who now identifies as female participated in the Women's Open category... organizers were unaware of this situation prior to the event."

In 2023, the state introduced a law prohibiting "males by birth from participating with female athletes", although this only applies to higher education sport in the region.

Thompson thinks female strength competitions may introduce sex screening in the future.

"I suppose it's going to have to proceed along that route... but our discipline is still relatively recent. There's insufficient money in it to have these things in operation. We rely on the honesty of the athletes."

Wider Athletic Landscape

In recent years, a increasing quantity of athletic organizations have prohibited competitors who have gone through male puberty from competing in elite women's events, amid apprehensions over equity and safety, including international swimming and track and field bodies.

In May, prominent UK athletic organizations were among a group of associations to implement similar policies, after the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on birth sex.

The moves have been opposed by transgender advocacy campaigners, who argue they could infringe upon human rights and insist inclusion should be prioritised.

Both international athletics and boxing organizations introduced genetic sex screening this season, asserting it is necessary to safeguard the fairness of female sports.

An official from international athletics has stated that between 50 and 60 competitors who went through puberty as males have been top placers in the women's division in global and continental athletics championships since 2000.