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An English competitor crowned the world's strongest woman claims she was robbed of her victory celebration after it emerged the original champion was a transgender woman who was ineligible to compete.

The British strongwoman was awarded the title retrospectively after US competitor Jammie Booker was removed from competition.

Thompson explained to sports media the competition, held in Arlington, Texas, was overshadowed by an individual who shouldn't have been there.

"I felt extremely frustrated and angry with what she's done," she stated. "She lied and was very deceptive, and deprived a lot of things from a lot of female athletes.

"The competitor that finished 11th didn't get the opportunity to do the final day... to have the top 10 status in the world."

Event coordinators, the strongman organization, stated "participants could only compete in the category for their birth sex recorded at birth", and that they had eliminated the athlete in dispute "who was biologically male."

Event Details

Records show the disqualified athlete participated in at least two other female strength events this year - taking first place at the Rainier Classic in summer and placing runner-up at North America's Strongest Woman in mid-summer.

Journalists were unable to contact the athlete and the organization confirmed "an attempt had been made to contact the athlete... but a reply had not been obtained."

The champion, 43, ultimately was declared the world's strongest woman for the second occasion, having previously won the title in 2018.

But it was only following this year's competition concluded that she discovered her opponent had been not qualified to compete.

"There existed nothing at all during the event - no-one had any reason to suspect any issues," said the parent from East Anglia.

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

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

Competition Details

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

The World's Strongest Woman championship is awarded at the Official Strongman Games, organized by a British organization.

Over 400 athletes from approximately 40 countries took part in this season's competition, which coordinators describe as "one of the pinnacles of the strength world."

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

Thompson and Booker were in the Female Open division and participated in six events over three days, including the log press, frame carrying and progressive deadlift.

Regulations and Qualifications

A statement from the organization stated: "Athletes are assigned to male or women's categories based on whether they are recorded as male or woman at birth.

"Evidence suggests that an athlete who is male by birth and who now identifies as a woman participated in the Female Open category... officials were not informed of this situation ahead of the competition."

In twenty twenty-three, the state enacted a regulation prohibiting "biological men from competing against female athletes", although this is limited to higher education sport in the state.

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

"I guess it's going to have to proceed along that route... but our discipline is still relatively recent. There's insufficient funding in it to have these things in operation. We rely on the honesty of the athletes."

Broader Sports Context

In recent years, a growing quantity of sports federations have prohibited competitors who have gone through male puberty from participating in elite female competition, amid apprehensions over equity and safety, including international swimming and track and field organizations.

In May, major British sports bodies were among a group of institutions to implement similar policies, after the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the official classification of a female is based on biological sex.

The moves have been opposed by trans rights campaigners, who argue they could violate individual freedoms and maintain participation should be emphasized.

Both international athletics and pugilism organizations implemented genetic sex screening this year, asserting it is needed to safeguard the fairness of female sports.

An official from the global track organization has claimed that between 50 and 60 competitors who experienced male puberty have been finalists in the women's division in global and continental athletics championships since 2000.