World’s Strongest Woman in trans storm as ‘male’ | Sports News

The World’s Strongest Woman contest has grow to be embroiled in a mass controversy after Jammie Booker, who was reportedly born male, beat former champion Andrea Thompson by a single level to win the title.

Thompson completed final in the ultimate occasion, permitting Booker to capitalize and snatch the title by the best margin. However, Rebecca Roberts, a three-time World’s Strongest Woman champion, has claimed that Booker is transgender and that opponents and organizers weren’t knowledgeable of her background.

Official Strongman Games has since been knowledgeable of the scenario and has disqualified Booker after confirming that she wouldn’t have been permitted to compete in the Women’s Open class. Trans athletes proceed to divide opinion within the sports activities group, and transgender ladies are set to be banned from the Olympic Games following a boxing controversy in Paris, which noticed Imane Khelif win gold.

After Booker clinched the World’s Strongest Woman title, Thompson appeared to storm off stage. Thompson appeared livid after settling for second, although on Instagram, she clarified her feelings have been down to a poor efficiency in the ultimate occasion.

Roberts, winner of the 2021, 2023, and 2024 contest, spoke overtly in regards to the incident and claimed that Thompson is the actual winner on account of Booker’s background. Thompson’s coach, Laurence Shahlaei, additionally declared that his consumer was the worthy champion. “I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth,” Roberts wrote on Instagram.

“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 classes have been created for a motive, and if we lose that, we lose the inspiration of our sport. What occurred this weekend wasn’t clear. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when equity is taken unexpectedly, trust in the game 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.”

After declaring Thompson as the ‘true’ champion, the Official Strongman Games group issued a assertion claiming that they’d tried to contact Booker. The assertion additionally confirmed that her participation was not legal, and after failing to inform organizers of her delivery gender, she was stripped of the title and disqualified. 

“We wanted to provide an update on what is happening following the Official Strongman Games World Championships 2025 which were held in Arlington, Texas over the weekend,” the assertion learn. “It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category.

“Official Strongman officers have been unaware of this reality forward of the competitors, and we’ve got been urgently investigating since being knowledgeable. An attempt has been made to contact the competitor concerned, however a response has not been acquired.

“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 Women’s Open category. We are clear – competitors can only compete in the category for the biological sex recorded at birth.

“Official Strongman is inclusive and proud to run occasions which don’t discriminate in opposition to athletes primarily based on personal traits. Any athlete is welcome. But it’s our duty to make sure equity and guarantee athletes are assigned to males or ladies’s classes primarily based on whether or not they’re recorded as male or feminine at delivery.

“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 occasion which is rightly one of the pinnacles of the energy world. We are disenchanted on behalf of all those that pretty and legitimately took half that the eye has been taken away from their efforts which deserve celebration, no matter how they carried out or the place they completed. We stand with them and stand with equity.”