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The original winner of the 2025 World’s Strongest Woman competition in Arlington, Texas, was stripped of the title after allegations that the athlete is transgender came to light.
Andrea Thompson, the 2018 winner, stepped off the podium at the event over the weekend after Jammie Booker won the title.
Thompson placed second by just one point behind Booker in the women’s open category (no weight requirement). A YouTube video from what appears to be Booker’s own channel, dating back to 2017, shows Booker claiming to be “trans.”
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Andrea Thompson (left) finished second behind an alleged transgender athlete in the World’s Strongest Woman 2025 competition. (Laurence Shahlaei)
A video showed Thompson stepping off the podium and apparently saying, “This is bullshit…”
According to Strongman Archives, Booker had not competed in women’s events before last June. It is unclear if Booker had previously competed as a man.
After backlash over the previous 48 hours, Official Strongman announced that Booker would be “disqualified”, admitting that he was unaware of the allegations that Booker had been born a man. The ruling now gives Thompson his second victory in the competition.
“If we had been aware, or if this had been declared at any time before or during the competition, this athlete would not have been allowed to compete in the Women’s Open category. We are clear: competitors can only compete in the category based on the biological sex registered at birth,” official Strongman said in an announcement Tuesday. “Official Strongman is inclusive and prides itself on organizing events that do not discriminate against athletes based on their personal characteristics. Any athlete is welcome. But it is our responsibility to ensure fairness and ensure that athletes are assigned to male or female categories based on whether they are registered as male or female at birth.”
Thompson shared a post from her coach, Laurence Shahlaei, congratulating her on “winning” the event. Shahlaei made the post on Monday, a day after the event. Shahlaei told Pak Gazette Digital just before Strongman’s announcement that he had been told Thompson would be crowned champion and that an official announcement would be made.
“This victory has not been 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 wrote.
Jammie Booker is known to have competed in only three official Strongman events, winning two. (iStock)
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Thompson finished third in 2019 and second in 2022 in the same competition. She won the Masters World’s Strongest Woman event, reserved for women 40 and older.
Booker has competed in three events this year, winning the first in June and placing second in North America’s Strongest Woman. On September 14, Booker started a GoFundMe to help raise money to compete in the competition.
“After taking first place at the regional Rainier Classic (and earning my pro card) and second place at the North American Strongest Woman competition, I qualified for the next level of competition at the Official Strongman Games and have a good chance of making the podium in this event as well,” Booker wrote.
“Now comes the difficult task of financing the trip. Registration fees are $285, the flight to Texas will be around $350, and hotel fees for the 3-day competition and pre-competition rules meeting will be $900. I simply cannot afford this on my meager fitness coaching budget on the planet. Winning this competition will open huge doors for my career as an athlete and as a coach.”
Strongman said he attempted to contact Booker, “but no response was received.” On Monday, Booker posted a video on Instagram thanking numerous people for their help in what was originally a victory.
A stack of weights in the warm-up room of a weightlifting event. (Kevin Langley/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Booker’s TikTok bio says Booker, 28, is the “strongest lesbian in the world.” In a January post, Booker wrote, “No, I’m not a man.”
Booker’s first Instagram post is a photo posing at Planet Fitness on July 31, 2022.
