The American competitor was disqualified from the world's strongest woman competition
A British athlete crowned the world's strongest woman claims she was deprived of her winning moment after it emerged the original champion was a trans female who was not qualified to compete.
The British strongwoman was granted the title retrospectively after American athlete Jammie Booker was removed from competition.
The champion told sports media the competition, held in the Texas city of Arlington, was clouded by somebody who shouldn't have been there.
"I was very frustrated and upset with what she's done," she stated. "She was untruthful and was quite deceptive, and took away a lot of things from a lot of women.
"The lady that finished 11th didn't get the chance to compete in the final day... to have the elite ranking in the world."
Event coordinators, the strongman organization, said "competitors could only compete in the category for their biological sex registered at birth", and that they had eliminated the athlete in dispute "who is biologically male."
Competition Details
Records show Booker participated in at least two other strongwoman events this year - taking first place at the Rainier Classic in summer and placing runner-up at North America's Strongest Woman in July.
Journalists were unable to contact Booker and the organization said "efforts had been made to get in touch with the competitor... but a response had not been obtained."
The British athlete had originally placed second to the American athlete
Thompson, forty-three, eventually was declared the global female strength champion for the second occasion, having previously won the title in 2018.
But it was only following this season's event finished that she discovered her rival had been ineligible to compete.
"There existed no indication at all during the competition - no-one had any reason to suspect any issues," said the parent from Suffolk.
"It was about six hours after that the first rumours started going round, and then the organisers contacted me.
"It represents a massive accomplishment that's been overshadowed by some deception."
Competition Particulars
Strength contests have no single regulatory authority, rather, independent groups run a variety of competitions.
The World's Strongest Woman championship is awarded at the Official Strongman Games, run by a British company.
Over four hundred athletes from nearly forty countries participated in this season's competition, which organisers describe as "one of the pinnacles of the strength world."
The Competition featured events across multiple sex, body mass and years categories.
The British athlete and Booker were in the Women's Open division and participated in six disciplines over multiple days, including the log press, frame carrying and deadlift ladder.
Regulations and Qualifications
An announcement from the organization stated: "Competitors are assigned to male or female categories based on whether they are recorded as male or female at birth.
"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is male by birth and who now identifies as a woman competed in the Women's Open division... officials were not informed of this situation ahead of the event."
In twenty twenty-three, the state enacted a law banning "biological men from participating with women competitors", although this only applies to higher education athletics in the state.
Thompson believes strongwoman competitions may introduce gender verification in the future.
"I guess it's going to have to proceed along that route... but our discipline is still quite new. There's not enough funding in it to have these procedures in operation. We depend on the integrity of the competitors."
Broader Athletic Landscape
In recent years, a increasing number of sports federations have prohibited athletes who have experienced puberty as males from participating in top-level women's events, amid concerns over fairness and safety, including international swimming and track and field bodies.
In May, major UK sports bodies were among a number of institutions to follow suit, after the Britain's highest court's decision that the legal definition of a female is based on birth sex.
The decisions have been opposed by transgender advocacy campaigners, who argue they could infringe upon individual freedoms and maintain inclusion should be emphasized.
Both international athletics and pugilism bodies implemented chromosomal testing this season, claiming it is needed to protect the fairness of female sports.
An official from international athletics has stated that between 50 and 60 athletes who experienced male puberty have been finalists in the female category in international and regional athletics competitions since 2000.
