The American competitor faced disqualification from the global female strength competition
A British athlete honored as the planet's most powerful female says she was deprived of her winning moment after it was revealed the original champion was a transgender woman who was not qualified to compete.
The British strongwoman was granted the championship retrospectively after US competitor the disqualified contestant was removed from competition.
The champion explained to athletic press the competition, held in the Texas city of Arlington, was clouded by an individual who wasn't eligible to participate.
"I felt very frustrated and upset with what she's done," she stated. "She lied and was quite deceptive, and took away a lot of things from a lot of women.
"The lady that came 11th didn't get the opportunity to compete in the third day... to have the elite ranking in the world."
Organisers, the strongman organization, stated "participants could only participate in the category for their birth sex registered at birth", and that they had eliminated the competitor in question "who is male by birth."
Event Details
Documentation show Booker participated in at least two other strongwoman events this year - winning the Washington competition in summer and placing runner-up at the continental championship in July.
Sports media were unable to contact the athlete and event officials confirmed "an attempt had been made to get in touch with the competitor... but a response had not been received."
Thompson had originally placed second to the US competitor
Thompson, forty-three, eventually was declared the global female strength champion for the second occasion, having earlier claimed the title in two thousand eighteen.
But it was only following this year's competition concluded that she discovered her opponent had been ineligible to participate.
"There existed no indication at all during the event - nobody had any reason to suspect anything," said the mother of two from East Anglia.
"It was about several hours after that the first rumours started going round, and then the officials contacted me.
"It's a significant achievement that's been overshadowed by some dishonesty."
Competition Details
Strength contests have no single governing body, rather, private organizations run a range of events.
The Global Female Strength title is presented at the International Strength Competition, organized by a British company.
Over four hundred competitors from nearly 40 nations took part in this season's event, which organisers describe as "among the pinnacles of the power sports community."
The Games included events across multiple gender, weight and years classifications.
The British athlete and Booker were in the Female Open category and competed in six disciplines over multiple days, including the overhead press, timber frame carry and progressive deadlift.
Rules and Eligibility
A statement from the organization stated: "Competitors are assigned to male or women's divisions based on whether they are recorded as male or woman at birth.
"It appears that an athlete who is male by birth and who now identifies as a woman competed in the Women's Open category... organizers were unaware of this fact prior to the competition."
In twenty twenty-three, Texas enacted a law prohibiting "males by birth from competing against women competitors", although this only applies to higher education athletics in the region.
The champion believes strongwoman events may implement gender verification in the future.
"I suppose it's going to have to go down that route... but our sport is still relatively recent. There's insufficient money in it to have these procedures in operation. We rely on the integrity of the competitors."
Wider Athletic Landscape
In recent years, a increasing number of athletic organizations have barred athletes who have gone through puberty as males from participating in top-level women's events, amid concerns over equity and safety, including global aquatics and track and field bodies.
In spring, major UK athletic organizations were among a number of institutions to follow suit, after the Britain's highest court's decision that the official classification of a woman is based on biological sex.
The moves have been opposed by transgender advocacy campaigners, who argue they could infringe upon human rights and maintain inclusion should be emphasized.
Both international athletics and boxing bodies introduced chromosomal testing this season, claiming it is necessary to safeguard the fairness of women's competition.
An official from the global track organization has stated that between fifty to sixty athletes who went through male puberty have been finalists in the women's division in global and continental track and field competitions since 2000.
