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An English athlete honored as the planet's most powerful female claims she was robbed of her winning moment after it emerged the initial winner was a transgender woman who was ineligible to compete.

The British strongwoman was granted the title retrospectively after US competitor the disqualified contestant was removed from competition.

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

"I felt very disappointed and upset with her actions," she said. "She lied and was very deceptive, and deprived 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 have the top 10 status in the world."

Event coordinators, the competition body, said "competitors could only compete in the category for their biological sex recorded at birth", and that they had disqualified the athlete in dispute "who is biologically male."

Event Background

Records show Booker took part in at least several additional strongwoman events this year - winning the Washington competition in summer and finishing second at the continental championship in mid-summer.

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

The champion, 43, ultimately became the global female strength champion for the second occasion, having earlier claimed the championship in 2018.

But it was only after this season's event concluded that she discovered her opponent had been ineligible to participate.

"There was no indication at all during the event - nobody had any cause to suspect any issues," said the parent from Suffolk.

"It happened about six hours after that the initial speculation started circulating, and then the organisers contacted me.

"It represents a massive achievement that's been overshadowed by some dishonesty."

Competition Details

Strength contests have no unified regulatory authority, instead, independent groups organize a range of competitions.

The Global Female Strength championship is presented at the Official Strongman Games, run by a UK-registered company.

More than four hundred competitors from approximately 40 countries took part in this season's event, which coordinators characterize as "one of the pinnacles of the strength world."

The Games featured events across various sex, weight and years classifications.

Thompson and Booker were in the Women's Open division and participated in half-dozen disciplines over multiple days, including the overhead press, frame carrying and deadlift ladder.

Rules and Eligibility

A statement from the organization said: "Athletes are placed to men's or female divisions based on whether they are registered as man or female at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Female Open division... organizers were not informed of this situation ahead of the competition."

In twenty twenty-three, the state enacted a regulation banning "biological men from competing against female athletes", although this only applies to college and university sport in the state.

The champion believes female strength events may introduce gender verification in the future.

"I guess it's going to have to proceed along that path... but our sport is still relatively recent. There's not enough funding in it to have these things in place. We depend on the integrity of the competitors."

Wider Sports Context

In the past few seasons, a increasing number of sports federations have prohibited competitors who have experienced puberty as males from participating in top-level female competition, amid concerns over equity and safety, including global aquatics and track and field organizations.

In spring, major British athletic organizations were among a group of associations to follow suit, after the UK Supreme Court's decision that the official classification of a female is based on birth sex.

The decisions have been challenged by transgender advocacy campaigners, who argue they could infringe upon human rights and insist participation should be emphasized.

Both global track and field and boxing bodies implemented chromosomal testing this year, claiming it is necessary to safeguard the integrity of female sports.

A representative from international athletics has claimed that between 50 and 60 competitors who went through puberty as males have been top placers in the women's division in global and continental track and field competitions since the year two thousand.