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The British woman who came second to a 'biological male' in the World's Strongest Woman competition has spoken out on the trans athlete's 'dishonesty and deception'.
American Jammie Booker, 28, initially beat Great Britain's Andrea Thompson, 43, to victory at the Official Strongman Games World Championships 2025 event in Arlington, Texas over the weekend - but no one knew of her alleged background.
Controversy soon swirled around Booker and her win, leading the Official Strongman Games to release a statement and officially disqualify her, and strip her of her title.
In footage from the trophy ceremony, Thompson could be heard saying 'this is bull****, can we go?' before storming off stage, as Booker celebrated on the winner's podium.
Recalling the moment she marched off stage, Thompson told the Daily Mail: ‘I was just angry with myself.’
At that point, she had no idea that Booker was transgender, and blamed herself for not winning top place after coming so close.
‘The video and pictures that are going around of me looking really miserable are just me being frustrated and upset with myself that I'd got second spot, when I'd put on the champion’s performance all weekend, and I knew that I was good enough to earn that top spot.’
Despite her anger with herself, Thompson still congratulated Booker, not realising the truth.
Andrea Thompson, 43, initially came second in the competition because of her performance in the 'Stone Series' challenge, where the women had to lift four implements over a 42-inch beam weighing up to 300 pounds
In the wake of the competition results, several fans rushed to support Andrea Thompson on social media
Jammie Booker, 28, initially took home the title after narrowly beating professional strongwoman Thompson from Melton, Suffolk
It wasn’t until early Monday morning that she received a link to an adult website containing an alleged photograph of her competitor, showing that she was a biological male.
‘I was like oh my goodness, what is this?’ she said.
‘Within an hour I had more pictures and video links coming through, my coach actually called me and said: “Have you seen what's going on?”’
As time went on, the situation had ‘gone crazy’ online, with speculation mounting that Booker was in fact transgender and had violated the rules of the competition by competing in the women-only event.
‘I was more shocked,’ Thompson said. ‘[I started thinking] What is going on? Is this really a man? What's going to happen now? What’s going to happen to my place? A hundred questions were going through my head as to what the situation could be.’
Thompson had ended up coming second in the competition because of her performance in the 'Stone Series' challenge, where the women had to lift four implements over a 42-inch beam weighing up to 300 pounds.
Booker loaded three stones in just over 29 seconds, while Thompson only loaded one.
A few hours later, Thompson received a call from the organisers, telling her they were investigating the situation.
On Tuesday, Official Strongman Games released a statement saying Booker had been disqualified, and a new league table was issued placing Thompson at the top with 43 points. Second place was awarded to Australia’s Allira-Joy Cowley with 37 points and Jackie Osczevski from Canada came third with 32.
Thompson feels disappointed that her experience at the podium was marred by her looking visibly frustrated at placing second, despite the fact she was the rightful winner. That moment should have been a time of jubilation, but it was taken away from her.
‘I was then actually upset. I should have got that top spot. [The videos show] me looking really miserable, and the way that she's celebrating, I should have been celebrating.
‘But also it had a massive knock-on effect for the other athletes in that class. The person that came third should have come second, the one that came fourth should have had that podium spot, or the lady that came 11th, should have come 10th place, and then had the opportunity to [compete on] the final day.’
Recalling the moment she marched off stage, Thompson told the Daily Mail: ‘I was just angry with myself’
American Booker did not tell organizers she was transgender and is now dodging their calls, according to officials
On Tuesday, Official Strongman Games released a statement saying Booker had been disqualified, and a new league table was issued placing Thompson at the top with 43 points
Thompson suddenly became aware of ‘all of these opportunities that had been taken away from the other athletes’, including their opportunity to celebrate their own achievements.
‘It wasn’t just me. There are other athletes who have been affected by this as well,’ she said.
She continued: ‘It’s definitely a frustrating situation. I’m annoyed that she’s deceived and been so dishonest. In her application, in coming into a female sport knowing that she’s not biologically female, that she’s already got that advantage on everybody.
‘It’s taken away the future of other women. Little girls and children come up to us - I have messages daily from parents that say their little girls look up to me, and if they see that a man is coming into our sport and taking over those positions, that doesn’t look good for our future.’
Before this point, Thompson never considered that a biological male might pretend to be female in order to compete in her sport.
‘It's never been something that's been at the forefront of my brain, we just do not expect it to happen,’ she said.
One of the wonderful things about her particular sport is that women ‘come in all shapes and sizes’, and no one is judged based on their body-type. Thompson herself is only 5ft 5in.
‘So you can be a tiny, athletic, young lady, or you can be a larger lady [with] big boobs, and nobody really cares. You go into your designated category based on your ability, your weight class.
‘We don't care what you look like, that's never been an issue. We don't judge on appearances in our sport.
‘We get judged as female athletes anyway, [but] with our sport we don't have that, and so it was never a thing to think of somebody who's slightly larger or slightly taller than anyone we've seen before [and to say]: “Oh, that must be a man.”’
While some fans of the tournament are criticising the organisers for allowing Booker to enter, Thompson was quick to jump to their defence, insisting that no one at Official Strongman Games knew the truth about the competitor.
‘They had no idea whatsoever. Nobody knew until yesterday morning, and it was the morning after the competition, so all the accusations that the organisers knew and they had a man compete are rubbish.’
One of the wonderful things about her particular sport is that women ‘come in all shapes and sizes’, and no one is judged based on their body-type. Thompson herself is only 5ft 5in
Thompson said all contestants had to fill out a form and tick a checkbox whether they were male or female
In an update posted to Instagram by the Official Strongman Games channel on Tuesday, the organisation stated they were 'unaware' that Booker was 'biologically male' before crowning her the winner.
'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,' they wrote.
'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. Official Strongman is inclusive and proud to run events which do not discriminate against athletes based on personal characteristics.
'Any athlete is welcome. But 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'.
They said they had now disqualified the athlete from the Official Strongman World Championships 2025.
'All athlete points and places will be altered accordingly to ensure that the rightful places are allocated to each of the Women’s Open athletes.
'The Official Strongman World Championships is an event which is rightly one of the pinnacles of the strength world.
'We are disappointed on behalf of all those who fairly and legitimately took part that the attention has been taken away from their efforts which deserve celebration, no matter how they performed or where they finished. We stand with them and stand with fairness.'
Thompson said the organisers reached out to Booker and gave her a 24-hour window to respond to the allegations. They didn’t hear back from her during the time limit, and so they went ahead with the disqualification. Any prize money will be distributed to the rightful winners, and another ceremony will take place at a future event, Thompson said.
‘I think what makes it even more frustrating is that if somebody wants to throw the blame at someone, the only person to blame is Jammie herself for deceiving the whole community.
On Wednesday, Thompson is travelling to Singapore to compete in another competition called the Extinct Games, and she has more competitions coming up in March and November next year
Speculation initially began swirling online that Booker was believed to be biologically male, after she was crowned the winner, sparking uproar among fans and fellow athletes
‘It was a very clever thing to do. There's thousands of people that she managed to manipulate to get into female sport and compete without anybody taking any notice, or having to think about whether she was actually the same gender as what she was stating.’
Thompson said all contestants had to fill out a form and tick a checkbox whether they were male or female. They also had to physically sign a waiver and tick male or female a second time.
‘She’s not responding to anybody, she’ll probably get to keep the trophy. And we will have our own little ceremony at another show, probably at one in January,’ Thompson said.
Speculation initially began swirling online that Booker was believed to be biologically male, after she was crowned the winner, sparking uproar among fans and fellow athletes.
The personal trainer, who is apparently 6ft 5in and weighs around 400 pounds, allegedly admitted in a YouTube video from 2017 that she is transgender.
Fans of the tournament tracked down a YouTube channel entitled 'Jammie Booker', with a profile picture of a person wearing sports gear while flexing their biceps, who appears to look like the competitor.
In one of two videos uploaded by the account, which only has 12 subscribers, a voiceover can be heard saying: 'Everyone on Earth is dying to tell their own story and I am no exception to that.
'I'm a 21 year old trans [woman] with a history of abuse struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.'
Following the reveal, 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."'
Asked whether female sport was threatened, Thompson said: ‘We’ve been at risk for a long time’
Details on Booker are murky but in a YouTube video - uploaded to what appears to be her channel in September 2017 - Booker says: 'I'm a 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents'
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.'
The Daily Mail has approached Booker for comment.
Asked whether female sport was threatened, Thompson said: ‘We’ve been at risk for a long time.’
‘In my specific sport, it just raises questions. Are we going to have to have special checks in place? Is there going to be DNA testing before we check in? Is there going to be some sort of system to ensure that it doesn't happen again? Something will change. How soon it changes, I don't know.’
She continued: ‘We just rely on honesty and people doing the right thing.’
She had a message for young girls who watched the competition and might be inspired to walk in the paths of today’s female athletes.
‘Definitely, just continue doing what you’re doing. Women have to fight hard no matter what they choose to do in life.
‘And when we do succeed, it's fully embraced by the female community. Do what you love to do. Work hard. You do have to work a little bit harder and ignore society sometimes. But just keep looking up to the women you look up to.’
On Wednesday, Thompson is travelling to Singapore to compete in another competition called the Extinct Games, and she has more competitions coming up in March and November next year.
‘I’m still kicking around,’ she said.
She’s ‘surrounded by teenagers’ all the time, as a progress coach for apprentices at Suffolk New College, and as the mother to two teenage daughters, Olivia, 17, and Violet, 14.
Thompson holds multiple Guinness World Records, most famously for the heaviest log lift by a female, at 140 kg (308 lb 10 oz). She has also set world records for both the Elephant Bar and Hummer deadlift as well as the regular strongwoman deadlift.
