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A British competitor honored as the planet's most powerful female says she was robbed of her victory celebration after it emerged the initial winner was a transgender woman who was not qualified to compete.

The British strongwoman was granted the championship after the fact after American athlete the disqualified contestant 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 felt extremely frustrated and angry with what she's done," she stated. "She lied and was quite dishonest, and deprived a lot of things from a lot of women.

"The lady that finished 11th was denied the chance to compete in the third day... to have the top 10 status in the world."

Organisers, the strongman organization, stated "competitors could only compete in the category for their biological sex registered at birth", and that they had disqualified the athlete in question "who was male by birth."

Competition Details

Documentation show the disqualified athlete took part in at least two other strongwoman competitions this season - winning the Rainier Classic in summer and placing runner-up at North America's Strongest Woman in mid-summer.

Journalists could not contact Booker and event officials confirmed "efforts had been made to get in touch with the competitor... but a reply had not been received."

Thompson, forty-three, ultimately became the world's strongest woman for the second occasion, having earlier won the title in 2018.

But it was only following this year's competition finished that she discovered her opponent had been not qualified to participate.

"There was no indication at all during the event - nobody had any cause to question any issues," said the parent from East Anglia.

"It happened about six hours after that the first rumours started circulating, and then the organisers contacted me.

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

Competition Particulars

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

The World's Strongest Woman title is awarded at the Official Strongman Games, organized by a UK-registered organization.

Over four hundred athletes from nearly 40 countries participated in this year's event, which coordinators characterize as "among the pinnacles of the strength world."

The Competition included events across multiple gender, body mass and age categories.

The British athlete and the American competitor were in the Female Open category and competed in six disciplines over multiple days, including the overhead press, timber frame carry and progressive deadlift.

Regulations and Eligibility

A statement from event officials stated: "Athletes are assigned to men's or female categories based on whether they are recorded as male or female at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as a woman participated in the Women's Open category... organizers were unaware of this situation ahead of the event."

In twenty twenty-three, the state introduced a regulation prohibiting "males by birth from participating with women competitors", although this is limited to college and university sport in the region.

The champion thinks strongwoman events 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 funding in it to have these procedures in operation. We rely on the integrity of the competitors."

Broader Athletic Landscape

In the past few seasons, a increasing number of athletic organizations have barred competitors who have gone through male puberty from competing in top-level female competition, amid apprehensions over fairness and safety, including international swimming and track and field organizations.

In spring, prominent UK sports bodies were among a group of associations to implement similar policies, after the UK Supreme 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 argue they could violate human rights and insist inclusion should be prioritised.

Both international athletics and boxing organizations implemented genetic sex screening this year, claiming it is needed to protect the fairness of female sports.

A representative from the global track organization has claimed that between fifty to sixty athletes who went through male puberty have been top placers in the female category in international and regional track and field competitions since 2000.