American Jammie Booker won the gold medal at the 2025 World’s Strongest Woman competition. But, after organizers discovered Booker is a man who identifies as a trans woman, he was stripped of his title.
Booker beat the UK’s Andrea Thompson in the women's division at the Official Strongman Games World Championship in Arlington, Texas over the weekend.
Thompson was livid over losing to a trans-identified opponent. After Booker was handed the win, Thompson walked away from the podium, saying, “This is bullshit,” the Daily Mail reported.
In stripping the title, event organizers said Booker, from Philadelphia, violated the contest’s rules which clearly stipulate that athletes must compete in the category that aligns with their biological sex at birth.
“It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category,” organizers said in a social media statement announcing the decision.
“Official Strongman officials were unaware of this fact ahead of the competition and we have been urgently investigating since being informed. 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 Woman’s Open category,” they added.
Thompson went on to say: “My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only.”
Thompson’s coach and supporters insisted that Thompson was the rightful winner.
“You worked your a** off for this, and I’m so proud of you,” Thompson’s coach, Laurence Shahlaei, said on social media. “You absolutely dominated the deadlift, log, and circus dumbbell, and while there are still a couple of weaknesses to work on, you were still the strongest woman on the day.”
“This win hasn’t come without controversy, but I want to make it very clear that while I support and applaud people for being who they want to be, sport is sport and the women’s classes exist for a reason,” Shahlaei added.
Contestant Rebecca Roberts was so upset over Booker’s win that she took to her Instagram and posted an image reading “‘protect women’s sports.” Adding that she has no “hate” for transgender people, Roberts said: “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.”
Roberts continued: “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 categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.”
Booker posted a message on Instagram celebrating his win over the women. The Instagram account is set to private.
“You are all insanely badass women, and it was an honor just to even share the stage with you and to be there to cheer you on and be cheered on by you,” Booker said of his opponents, according to The Daily Mail.
“I genuinely did not expect this outcome, and I’m not saying that in a way to gloat or be prideful. When I signed up for this competition, I did not expect to win – it was a pipe dream,” Booker continued.
Booker hasn’t publicly addressed his disqualification. Organizers said attempts to reach him in the wake of the contest have failed.
Jammie Booker, a man pretending to be a woman, just won the title of “World’s Strongest Woman” at the World’s Strongest Woman competition in Arlington, Texas.
Andrea Thompson, the female runner-up, had her title stolen by a man. KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS pic.twitter.com/MYXCmOSEEc — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 25, 2025
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