Jammie Booker was accused of being a trans athlete after winning the World’s Strongest Woman final. Photo / Instagram, @strong_jammie_booker
The winner of the World’s Strongest Woman contest has been disqualified for allegedly being born male and failing to declare it.
American Jammie Booker beat Great Britain’s Andrea Thompson to victory at the event in Arlington, Texas.
But Booker was stripped of the title on Tuesday night after a row broke out over the winner’s true biological sex and whether it had been declared to Official Strongman, the competition organisers.
At Sunday’s medal ceremony, Thompson walked off the podium after appearing to utter “This is bullshit” while Booker was celebrating and she was later proclaimed the “true World’s Strongest Woman” by her coach and former champions.
The Briton is now set to be recognised as such, with Official Strongman saying in a statement: “It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category. Official Strongman officials were unaware of this fact before the competition and we have been urgently investigating since being informed. An attempt has been made to contact the competitor involved but a response has not been received.
“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.”
It added: “Given this, we have disqualified the athlete in question from the Official Strongman World Championships 2025. All athlete points and places will be altered accordingly to ensure that the rightful places are allocated to each of the Women’s Open athletes.
“The Official Strongman World Championships is an event which is rightly one of the pinnacles of the strength world. We are disappointed on behalf of all those who fairly and legitimately took part that the attention has been taken away from their efforts which deserve celebration, no matter how they performed or where they finished. We stand with them and stand with fairness.”
It earlier emerged that a video was uploaded to what appeared to be Booker’s YouTube channel in 2017 featuring a voiceover which stated: “Everyone is dying to tell their own story and I am obviously no exception to that.
“I’m a 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.”
The day after Booker won the World’s Strongest Woman contest, three-time champion Rebecca Roberts posted a picture on Instagram featuring the words: “PROTECT WOMEN’S SPORTS.”
She also wrote: “I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth.
“But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women’s strength sports. Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category.
“This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else. Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.
“What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack.
“My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only.
“I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever. Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman... the true World’s Strongest Woman 2025.”
Thompson was among those who liked the post.
Her coach, Laurence Shahlaei, meanwhile, also appeared to declare her the rightful winner.
“A huge congratulations to my client but more importantly, my very good friend @andreathompson_strongwoman for winning the World’s Strongest Woman 2025,” he wrote on the social media platform.
“You worked your a--- off for this and I’m so proud of you. You absolutely dominated the deadlift, log and circus dumbbell and while there are still a couple of weaknesses to work on, you were still the strongest woman on the day.
“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.”
One of Booker’s sponsors, Iron Ape, which sells sports strength equipment, announced it had ended the pair’s relationship.
The company’s owner, Colton Cross, wrote: “We have reason to believe that Jammie Booker misrepresented critical information to OSG officials and judges, resulting in an unfair advantage over the other competitors in the Women’s Open class.
“Effective immediately, Jammie Booker has been removed from the Iron Ape athlete roster and is no longer affiliated with our brand in any way.
“This is not a matter of Jammie’s gender identity. Iron Ape does not, and never will, discriminate against individuals based on gender, race, sexual orientation, or any other personal characteristic.
“We expect every Iron Ape athlete to uphold the highest standards of sportsmanship. When those standards are violated, decisive action must be taken.”
Mitchell Hooper, the 2023 World’s Strongest Man – wrote: “Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman on a champions [sic] performance this weekend at Worlds Strongest Woman.”
He also shared a YouTube video after attending the competition in person.
“The first time I saw Jammie, I said: ‘This woman looks different’,” Hooper said. “She was probably three to four inches taller, and probably 80lbs heavier than her closest competitor.”
He added: “Whatever you want to be you want to be, but there is a time when you have to take a stand for women’s sports.”
Telegraph Sport has approached Booker for comment.
The Daily Mail reported that Booker had posted a message to social media paying tribute to rival competitors.
“You are all insanely bada-- women and it was an honour just to even share the stage with you and to be there to cheer you on and be cheered on by you,” Booker reportedly said.
“I genuinely did not expect this outcome and I’m not saying that in a way to gloat or be prideful. When I signed up for this competition I did not expect to win – it was a pipe dream.”
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