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A British athlete honored as the planet's most powerful female says she was robbed of her victory celebration after it emerged the original champion was a trans female who was ineligible to compete.

The British strongwoman was awarded the championship retrospectively after US competitor Jammie Booker was disqualified.

The champion explained to athletic press the competition, held in Arlington, Texas, was overshadowed by an individual who wasn't eligible to participate.

"I felt extremely frustrated and upset with her actions," she said. "She lied and was very dishonest, and deprived a lot of opportunities from a lot of female athletes.

"The lady that finished 11th was denied the chance to do the final day... to achieve the elite ranking in the world."

Organisers, the strongman organization, stated "participants could only participate in the division for their birth sex recorded at birth", and that they had eliminated the athlete in dispute "who was male by birth."

Competition Background

Records indicate Booker participated in at least several additional female strength events this year - taking first place at the Washington competition in summer and finishing second at the continental championship in mid-summer.

Journalists were unable to contact the athlete and the organization confirmed "an attempt had been made to get in touch with the competitor... but a response had not been received."

Thompson, 43, ultimately was declared the global female strength champion for the second time, having earlier claimed the title in 2018.

But it was only after this year's competition finished that she discovered her rival had been not qualified to compete.

"There existed nothing at all during the competition - nobody had any cause to suspect any issues," said the mother of two from Suffolk.

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

"It's a significant achievement that's been overshadowed by some deception."

Event Particulars

Strength contests have no single regulatory authority, instead, private organizations run a range of competitions.

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

Over four hundred competitors from approximately 40 countries participated in this season's event, which coordinators characterize as "among the pinnacles of the strength world."

The Games included contests across various sex, body mass and age classifications.

The British athlete and Booker were in the Female Open division and competed in half-dozen events over multiple days, including the log press, timber frame carry and progressive deadlift.

Regulations and Eligibility

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

"Evidence suggests that an competitor who is male by birth and who currently self-identifies as a woman participated in the Women's Open category... officials were not informed of this situation prior to the competition."

In twenty twenty-three, Texas introduced a regulation banning "males by birth from participating with female athletes", although this only applies to college and university sport in the state.

The champion thinks strongwoman events may introduce sex screening in the coming years.

"I suppose it's going to have to proceed along that route... but our sport is still relatively recent. There's insufficient funding in it to have these procedures in operation. We depend on the integrity of the competitors."

Wider Athletic Landscape

In the past few seasons, a increasing number of sports federations have prohibited athletes who have gone through puberty as males from competing in elite female competition, amid concerns over equity and protection, including international swimming and athletics organizations.

In May, prominent British sports bodies were among a group of institutions to implement similar policies, after the Britain's highest court's ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on birth sex.

The decisions have been opposed by trans rights activists, who contend they could infringe upon individual freedoms and insist inclusion should be emphasized.

Both global track and field and boxing bodies implemented chromosomal testing this season, asserting it is necessary to safeguard the fairness of women's competition.

An official from international athletics has claimed that between fifty to sixty competitors who experienced male puberty have been finalists in the women's division in global and continental track and field championships since the year two thousand.