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A British competitor crowned the world's strongest woman claims she was deprived of her winning moment after it emerged the original champion was a transgender woman who was not qualified to compete.

Andrea Thompson was awarded the championship after the fact after American athlete Jammie Booker was disqualified.

The champion told athletic press the event, held in the Texas city of Arlington, was overshadowed by somebody who shouldn't have been there.

"I was extremely disappointed and upset with her actions," she stated. "She was untruthful and was very deceptive, and took away a lot of opportunities from a lot of women.

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

Organisers, the competition body, stated "participants could only participate in the category for their biological sex recorded at birth", and that they had disqualified the athlete in question "who was male by birth."

Competition Details

Records indicate Booker participated in at least several additional strongwoman competitions this year - taking first place at the Washington competition in June and placing runner-up at North America's Strongest Woman in mid-summer.

Sports media were unable to reach the athlete and the organization confirmed "an attempt had been made to contact the competitor... but a reply had not been received."

The champion, 43, eventually became the global female strength champion for the second time, having previously claimed the championship in 2018.

But it was only after this season's competition concluded that she discovered her opponent had been not qualified to participate.

"There was nothing at all during the event - no-one had any cause to suspect anything," said the parent from East Anglia.

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

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

Event Particulars

Power competitions have no single regulatory authority, rather, private organizations run a variety of events.

The Global Female Strength title is awarded at the Official Strongman Games, organized by a UK-registered organization.

More than four hundred athletes from approximately forty countries participated in this year's competition, which organisers characterize as "among the pinnacles of the power sports community."

The Competition featured events across various gender, body mass and years categories.

Thompson and Booker were in the Female Open category and participated in half-dozen disciplines over three days, including the overhead press, timber frame carry and deadlift ladder.

Regulations and Eligibility

An announcement from event officials stated: "Competitors are placed to men's or female categories based on whether they are recorded as man or female 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 prior to the event."

In twenty twenty-three, the state introduced a law prohibiting "males by birth from competing against female athletes", although this only applies to college and university athletics in the region.

Thompson thinks female strength events may introduce gender verification in the coming years.

"I suppose it's going to have to proceed along that path... but our sport 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 Sports Landscape

In recent years, a growing quantity of athletic organizations have barred competitors who have gone through puberty as males from participating in top-level female competition, amid apprehensions over equity and protection, including international swimming and track and field bodies.

In May, major UK sports bodies were among a number of associations to implement similar policies, after the Britain's highest court's decision that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

The moves have been opposed by transgender advocacy campaigners, who contend they could violate individual freedoms and insist inclusion should be emphasized.

Both international athletics and pugilism bodies introduced chromosomal testing this year, asserting it is needed to protect the fairness of women's competition.

A representative from the global track organization has claimed that between 50 and 60 competitors who experienced male puberty have been top placers in the female category in global and continental track and field competitions since the year two thousand.