Official Strong Man Games strips man of World’s Strongest Woman title, says he didn’t tell them he was male

The organizer said in a statement on social media, "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. 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."

The organizer stated that "we have disqualified the athlete in question 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 results have been updated, listing the UK’s Andrea Thompson as the winner of the women’s open division. Thompson had been seen in video taken of the podium saying, "this is bullsh*t" as she stood alongside Booker, who had been awarded the title after coming in one point ahead of Thompson.

The organizer’s statement continued, "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."

In the wake of the announcement, Thompson wrote on social media, "Firstly, this has been the most exhausting experience of my career. What should be a momentous occasion has sadly been overshadowed by scandal and dishonesty from someone who was welcomed into our crazy sport. A sport which encourages women to celebrate themselves without being judged on how society says they should be."

She continued, "I am not only frustrated with not being able to celebrate a win, but also for the ladies who had their time to shine on the podium or reach the final day, taken away from them. My fellow competitors have since received backlash and insults for just being women. They are mentally drained by defending themselves from unwanted opinions. This needs to stop."

Thompson said she was "grateful to the team for reaching out to me, investigating and rectifying the situation so quickly. Honoring the title to me, which is something we just don't see in any other sport that has faced a similar position. This means that we, as a community ARE taking a stand. Protecting women's sport as we have fought so hard for. Whilst I cannot say it won't ever happen again, I am confident that we will work something out to prevent it in the future."

"For now, ladies, keep showing up. Take up space. Be loud. Be proud. Show your daughters how amazing you are."