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An English athlete honored as the planet's most powerful female says she was deprived of her winning moment after it was revealed the original champion was a transgender woman who was not qualified to compete.

The British strongwoman was granted the title after the fact after American athlete the disqualified contestant was removed from competition.

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

"I felt extremely disappointed and angry with her actions," she said. "She lied and was very dishonest, and took away a lot of things from a lot of women.

"The competitor that came 11th didn't get the opportunity to do the third day... to achieve the elite ranking in the world."

Event coordinators, the competition body, said "competitors could only participate in the division for their biological sex recorded at birth", and that they had eliminated the athlete in question "who is biologically male."

Competition Background

Documentation indicate the disqualified athlete took part in at least two other strongwoman events this season - taking first place at the Washington competition in summer and finishing second at the continental championship in mid-summer.

Sports media could not contact the athlete and event officials said "efforts had been made to contact the athlete... but a reply had not been obtained."

Thompson, 43, eventually was declared the world's strongest woman for the second time, having earlier claimed the championship in two thousand eighteen.

But it was only after this season's competition finished that she discovered her opponent had been ineligible to compete.

"There was nothing at all during the event - no-one had any reason to suspect anything," said the mother of two from East Anglia.

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

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

Event Particulars

Strength contests have no unified regulatory authority, instead, private organizations run a range of events.

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

More than 400 competitors from nearly forty countries participated in this year's competition, which coordinators characterize as "among the pinnacles of the power sports community."

The Competition featured events across various sex, body mass and years classifications.

The British athlete and Booker were in the Women's Open division and participated in half-dozen events over three days, including the overhead press, frame carrying and progressive deadlift.

Regulations and Eligibility

A statement from event officials stated: "Competitors are placed to men's or women's categories based on whether they are registered as man or woman at birth.

"It appears that an athlete who is male by birth and who currently self-identifies as a woman competed in the Women's Open category... organizers were unaware of this situation prior to the competition."

In 2023, Texas introduced a law banning "biological men from competing against women competitors", although this only applies to college and university athletics in the region.

The champion thinks female strength events may implement sex screening in the future.

"I suppose it's going to have to proceed along that path... but our discipline is still relatively recent. There's insufficient funding in it to have these things in place. We rely on the integrity of the competitors."

Wider Athletic Context

In recent years, a increasing number of athletic organizations have barred athletes who have gone through puberty as males from participating in top-level women's events, amid apprehensions over fairness and safety, including global aquatics and track and field organizations.

In May, prominent British athletic organizations were among a number of associations to follow suit, after the UK Supreme Court's ruling that the legal definition of a female is based on biological sex.

The decisions have been opposed by trans rights campaigners, who contend they could infringe upon individual freedoms and maintain inclusion should be prioritised.

Both international athletics and pugilism organizations introduced chromosomal testing this season, claiming it is needed to safeguard the fairness of women's competition.

An official from the global track organization has stated that between 50 and 60 competitors who went through puberty as males have been finalists in the women's division in global and continental athletics competitions since 2000.