World’s Strongest Woman Is A ManTHIS IS NOT A SPOOF STORY!

World’s Strongest Woman Is A Man

THIS IS NOT A SPOOF STORY!

While “The Back Page” will normally feature spoof sports stories, this time truth is stranger than fiction; the annual Official Strongman Games finished a couple of days ago in Arlington, Texas, and the story that has had people in turn smacking their forehead in disbelief, and ranting on social media, was the announcement of the winner of the World’s Strongest Woman, Jammie Booker from the USA, who narrowly defeated the runner-up, UK lifter Andrea Thompson. Thompson ended up coming second in the competition because of her performance in the final ‘Stone Series’ challenge, where the women had to lift four stones over a 42-inch beam, with each weighing up to 300 pounds. Booker loaded three stones in just over 29 seconds, while Thompson only loaded one.

Official Strongman Games Logo

There was, however, one slight problem with this; Booker, from Philadelphia, was born male, and this violated the contest’s rules, which clearly stipulate that athletes must compete in the category that aligns with their biological sex at birth. As soon as this was discovered, Booker was stripped of the title, which was then awarded to Thompson. At the original presentation of the title, Thompson had stormed off the podium as she was reportedly heard saying “this is bull****, can we go?”, apparently referring to the decision to award the title to Booker. However a subsequent social media post seemed to contradict this, and suggested that she had accepted defeat graciously – “Most would be pleased with 2nd place, I am not. I came for the win, but my t-Rex arms let me down on those mega stones. In hindsight, I knew the loading and stones would be my weakness, but we always hope for a miracle. Congratulations to all the ladies who put in a good fight. Some dark horses who I know we will see again moving up the ranks. Thank you for all the supportive messages and kind words I’ve received.”

The organisation released the following statement – “It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category. Official Strongman officials were unaware of this fact ahead of the competition and we have been urgently investigating since being informed. An attempt has been made to contact the competitor involved but a response has not been received. 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. We are clear — competitors can only compete in the category for the biological sex recorded at birth. It is our responsibility to ensure fairness and ensure athletes are assigned to men or women’s categories based on whether they are recorded as male or female at birth.”

Above: The controversial moment when Booker was awarded the trophy with a scowling Thompson (left) alongside

Booker, 28, had actually ‘come out’ as a trans woman 8 years previously in a post on their Instagram account, according to some sources, as well as referring to themselves as the ‘world’s strongest lesbian’ in their TikTok bio. And the failure to inform the organisers of ‘her’ birth sex has led to one of Booker’s sponsors accused the athlete of having ‘misrepresented critical information to OSG [Official Strongman Games] officials and judges.’ Iron Ape, which sells sports strength equipment, revealed that she was ‘no longer affiliated’ with the brand ‘in any capacity after the controversy surrounding her “win.”‘ In a statement, Iron Ape owner Colton Cross wrote: ‘We have reason to believe that Jammie Booker misrepresented critical information to OSG officials and judges, resulting in an unfair advantage over the other competitors in the Women’s Open class. Effective immediately, Jammie Booker has been removed from the Iron Ape athlete roster… this is not a matter of Jammie’s gender identity. Iron Ape does not, and never will, discriminate against individuals based on gender, race, sexual orientation, or any other personal characteristic. We expect every Iron Ape athlete to uphold the highest standards of sportsmanship. When those standards are violated, decisive action must be taken.’

Prior to the decision to strip Booker of the title, three-time World’s Strongest Woman winner Rebecca Roberts took to Instagram on Monday night to declare her support for the Suffolk-based Thompson, whom she declared to be the true winner. She said: “My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only. Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman… the true World’s Strongest Woman 2025.” Thompson, from Melton, Suffolk, was also hailed as the winner, after the change promoting her to first place, by her coach, Laurence Shahlaei, who said: “A huge congratulations to my client but more importantly, my very good friend for winning the World’s Strongest Woman 2025. 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.”

Featured image courtesy of Easy-Peasy.AI

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