Female competitor crowned ‘World’s Strongest Woman’after transgender controversy overshadows event

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The original winner of the 2025 World’s Strongest Woman competition inArlington, Texas, was stripped of the title after allegations that the athlete is transgender came to light.

Andrea Thompson,the 2018 winner, stepped down from the podium at the event over the weekend after Jammie Booker won the title.

Thompson came in second place by just one point to Booker in the open women’s category (no weight requirement).A YouTube video from what appears to be Booker’s own channel, dating back to 2017, shows Bookerclaiming to be “trans.”

Andrea Thompson with her coach

Andrea Thompson (left) finished second to an alleged transgender athlete at the 2025 World’s Strongest Woman competition.(Laurence Shahlaei)

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A video showed Thompson stepping off the podium appearing to say, “This is bulls—.”

According toStrongman Archives, Booker had not competed in women’s events prior to this past June.It is unclear whether Booker had previously competed as a man.

After backlash over the previous 48 hours, Official Strongman announced that Booker would be “disqualified,” admitting it was unaware of allegations that Booker was born male.The ruling now gives Thompson her second victory in the competition.

“Had we been aware, or had this been declared at any point before or during the competition, this athlete would not have been permitted to compete in the Woman’s Open category.We are clear – competitors can only compete in the category for the biological sex recorded at birth,”Official Strongman said in an announcement Tuesday.“Official Strongman is inclusive and proud to run events which do not discriminate against athletes based on personal characteristics.Any athlete is welcome.But it is our responsibility to ensure fairness and ensure athletes are assigned to men or women’s categories based on whether they are recorded as male or female at birth.”

Thompson shared a post from her coach, Laurence Shahlaei, congratulating her on “winning” the event.Shahlaei made the post on Monday, one day after the event.�s announcement that he had been told Thompson would be crowned the champion and that an official announcement would be made.

“This win hasn’t come without controversy, but I want to make it very clear that while I support and applaud people for being who they want to be, sport is sport and the women’s classes exist for a reason,”Shahlaei wrote.

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Jammie Booker is on record in having competed in just three Official Strongman events, winning two.(iStock)

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Thompson finishedthird in 2019and second in 2022 at the same competition.She won the Masters World’s Strongest Woman event, reserved for women 40 years or older. 

Booker has competed in three events this year, winning the first back in June and coming in second in the North America’s Strongest Woman.On Sept.14, Bookerbegan a GoFundMefor help get money to compete in the competition.

“After taking 1st in the Rainier Classic regional (and getting my pro card) and 2nd at the North America’s Strongest Woman competition, I have qualified for the next level of competition at the Official Strongman Games and I have a good chance of reaching the podium at this event as well,” Booker wrote.

“Now comes the difficult task of funding the trip.Registration fees are $285, the flight to Texas will be around $350, and the hotel fees for the 3 day competition and pre competition rules meeting will be $900.I simply cannot afford this on my shoestring planet fitness trainer budget.Winning this competition will open huge doors for my career both as an athlete and as a trainer.”

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Strongman said it has attempted to reach out to Booker, “but a response has not been received.” On Monday, Bookerposted a video to Instagramthanking numerous people for their assistance in what was originally a victory.

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A stack of weights in the warm-up room at a weightlifting event.(Kevin Langley/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Booker’s TikTok biography reads that Booker, 28, is the “Worlds Strongest Lesbian.” In a post from January,Booker wrote, “no im not a man.”

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Booker’s first post on Instagram is a photoposing at a Planet Fitnesson July 31, 2022.

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