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An English competitor honored as the world's strongest woman claims she was robbed of her victory celebration after it emerged the initial winner was a transgender woman who was ineligible to compete.

Andrea Thompson was awarded the title after the fact after American athlete Jammie Booker was removed from competition.

The champion explained to athletic press the competition, held in Arlington, Texas, was clouded by an individual who shouldn't have been there.

"I was very frustrated and upset with what she's done," she stated. "She lied and was very deceptive, and took away a lot of things from a lot of female athletes.

"The competitor that came 11th didn't get the opportunity to do the third day... to achieve the top 10 status in the world."

Event coordinators, the strongman organization, stated "participants could only compete in the category for their birth sex registered at birth", and that they had disqualified the athlete in question "who is biologically male."

Competition Details

Documentation show the disqualified athlete participated in at least several additional female strength events this season - winning the Washington competition in summer and placing runner-up at the continental championship in July.

Journalists could not contact Booker and event officials confirmed "efforts had been made to contact the competitor... but a response had not been received."

The champion, forty-three, eventually became the global female strength champion for the second time, having previously claimed the championship in two thousand eighteen.

But it was only following this season's event concluded that she learned her rival had been ineligible to compete.

"There existed nothing at all during the event - nobody had any reason to question anything," said the parent from East Anglia.

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

"It's a significant achievement that's been marred by some deception."

Competition Details

Power competitions have no unified governing body, rather, independent groups run a range of competitions.

The Global Female Strength championship is awarded at the International Strength Competition, organized by a British organization.

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

The Games included contests across various gender, body mass and age categories.

Thompson and the American competitor were in the Female Open category and competed in half-dozen disciplines over three days, including the log press, timber frame carry and progressive deadlift.

Regulations and Qualifications

A statement from event officials stated: "Competitors are assigned to male or female divisions based on whether they are registered as man or woman at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is male by birth and who currently self-identifies as a woman participated in the Female Open division... officials were unaware of this situation ahead of the event."

In twenty twenty-three, Texas enacted a law banning "biological men from participating with female athletes", although this only applies to higher education sport in the region.

The champion thinks strongwoman competitions may implement gender verification in the future.

"I guess it's going to have to proceed along that route... but our sport is still quite new. There's insufficient funding in it to have these procedures in operation. We depend on the integrity of the athletes."

Wider Athletic Context

In recent years, a growing number of athletic organizations have barred competitors who have gone through male puberty from participating in elite women's events, amid concerns over fairness and protection, including global aquatics and athletics organizations.

In May, prominent UK athletic organizations were among a group of institutions to implement similar policies, after the Britain's highest court's ruling that the official classification of a female is based on biological sex.

The decisions have been opposed by transgender advocacy campaigners, who contend they could infringe upon individual freedoms and insist inclusion should be prioritised.

Both international athletics and boxing bodies implemented chromosomal testing this season, asserting it is necessary to protect the fairness of female sports.

A representative from the global track organization has stated that between 50 and 60 athletes who went through male puberty have been top placers in the female category in global and continental athletics championships since the year two thousand.