Strongwoman Championship Thrown Into Disarray After Controversial Result
The 2025 World's Strongest Woman competition in Arlington, Texas, concluded in dramatic fashion as the victory of American athlete Jammie Booker ignited fierce debate about transgender participation in women's strength sports. The event, which should have celebrated peak physical achievement, instead became the centre of a heated controversy that has divided the strongwoman community.
Podium Protest and Claims of Unfair Competition
British athlete Andrea Thompson, who placed second, made her feelings clear by walking off the podium during the awards ceremony in a powerful act of protest. The situation escalated when three-time World's Strongest Woman champion Rebecca Roberts revealed that neither the competing athletes nor the event organisers were aware of Booker's background before the competition.
Roberts stated emphatically that the lack of transparency surrounding Booker's participation threatened the fundamental fairness of women's strength sports. Details about the American athlete remain limited, but a YouTube video from September 2017, appearing on Booker's channel, shows the athlete identifying as a 21-year-old trans woman at that time.
Strongwoman Community Rallies Behind Thompson
The response from within the strength sports community has been swift and supportive of Thompson. Her coach, Laurence Shahlaei, took to social media to declare his athlete the "true World's Strongest Woman 2025" while acknowledging the controversy surrounding the official results. Shahlaei emphasised that while he supports people being who they want to be, women's categories in sport exist for important reasons.
Further support came from Mitchell Hooper, the 2023 World's Strongest Man, who paid tribute to Thompson's "champion's performance" on Instagram. His post attracted comments from fellow strongwoman champions, including three-time winner Donna Moore, who described Thompson as the "true winner of Worlds Strongest WOMAN."
The Ongoing Debate About Fairness in Women's Sports
Roberts elaborated on her position in an Instagram post that has since gained significant attention. She stated: "I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth. But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women's strength sports."
She argued that the physical differences between athletes born male and those born female create an inherent competitive imbalance in strength-based sports that cannot be ignored. Roberts concluded with a clear message: "Trans people belong in sport, but women's divisions must remain biologically born female-only." Thompson was among those who liked the post, indicating her support for this position.
The controversy has sparked broader conversations about inclusion, fairness, and the future of women's strength sports, with organisers Official Strongman Games yet to comment publicly on the matter.
