Trans Competitor Has Been Very Deceptive, Says Globe's Most Powerful Woman

A British competitor honored as the world's strongest woman claims she was deprived of her victory celebration after it emerged the initial winner was a trans female who was not qualified to compete.

The British strongwoman was granted the championship after the fact after US competitor the disqualified contestant was disqualified.

The champion explained to sports media the event, held in the Texas city of Arlington, was clouded by an individual who wasn't eligible to participate.

"I was very disappointed and angry with her actions," she said. "She lied and was very deceptive, and took away a lot of things from a lot of female athletes.

"The competitor that came 11th was denied the chance to compete in the third day... to achieve the top 10 status in the world."

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

Event Details

Records indicate the disqualified athlete took part in at least several additional strongwoman competitions this year - winning the Washington competition in summer and finishing second at North America's Strongest Woman in July.

Journalists could not contact Booker and the organization confirmed "efforts had been made to get in touch with the athlete... but a response had not been received."

The champion, 43, ultimately 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 competition finished that she learned her rival had been not qualified to participate.

"There was no indication at all during the event - no-one had any reason to question anything," said the parent from Suffolk.

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

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

Event Particulars

Strength contests have no single regulatory authority, instead, private organizations run a range of events.

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

Over 400 competitors from nearly 40 countries participated in this year's competition, which organisers describe as "one of the highest points of the strength world."

The Games included contests across various sex, weight and age categories.

Thompson and Booker were in the Female Open division and competed in half-dozen events over three days, including the overhead press, timber frame carry and progressive deadlift.

Rules and Eligibility

A statement from the organization said: "Athletes are assigned to male or female divisions based on whether they are recorded as man or woman at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is male by birth and who currently self-identifies as female competed in the Women's Open category... officials were unaware of this situation prior to the event."

In 2023, Texas enacted a regulation banning "biological men from competing against women competitors", although this only applies to college and university athletics in the region.

Thompson believes female strength competitions may introduce gender verification in the coming years.

"I suppose it's going to have to go down that path... but our sport is still quite new. There's not enough money in it to have these procedures in place. We rely on the honesty of the competitors."

Broader Sports Landscape

In the past few seasons, a increasing number of sports federations have prohibited competitors who have experienced puberty as males from competing in top-level women's events, amid apprehensions over fairness and safety, including international swimming and track and field organizations.

In spring, prominent UK sports bodies were among a number of associations to follow suit, after the Britain's highest court's decision that the official classification of a female is based on biological sex.

The decisions have been opposed by trans rights activists, who contend they could violate human rights and insist inclusion should be prioritised.

Both international athletics and pugilism organizations introduced genetic sex screening this year, claiming it is needed to safeguard the integrity of female sports.

A representative from the global track organization has claimed that between 50 and 60 athletes who experienced male puberty have been finalists in the women's division in global and continental track and field championships since 2000.