Andrea Thompson’s flash of anger on the podium in Arlington, Texas, was captured in a few seconds of video. Within three days, it would be recast as a turning point in strength sport, as the World’s Strongest Woman title changed hands, a champion was disqualified, and an already fraught debate over who can compete in women’s divisions erupted across sport and politics.
Rapid Rise, Narrow Defeat, Sudden Disqualification
The Official Strongman Games World Championships, held November 20-23, 2025, brought many of the world’s leading female strength athletes to Arlington for a multi-event test of deadlifts, overhead presses and heavy carries. In the super heavyweight division, 28-year-old Philadelphian Jammie Booker cut a striking figure, standing about 6-foot-5 and weighing roughly 400 pounds, far larger than most rivals.
Booker had only entered the women’s strongman circuit that June, winning the Rainier Classic to earn a professional card and then placing second at North America’s Strongest Woman later in the year. That trajectory—from debut to world champion contender in less than six months—was remarkable in a discipline where elite status usually builds over years.
In Arlington, Booker edged Britain’s Andrea Thompson by a single point, 47 to 46, to take the World’s Strongest Woman crown. Video from the podium showed Thompson leaving the stage in visible frustration as Booker celebrated. By Tuesday, however, the leaderboard had been rewritten: Booker was disqualified and Thompson was officially declared champion.
Adult Material, Past Statements and Online Sleuthing
The reversal began in the early hours of Monday, November 24. Around 3 a.m., several competitors said they received explicit images and videos allegedly featuring Booker in adult productions. Athletes later described the material as extremely graphic and said they had assumed all entrants in the women’s division had already undergone eligibility checks.
Online users quickly tied Booker to an adult performer named “Jammie Jay” listed in the Internet Adult Film Database as a “trans woman,” with nominations at the Trans Erotica Awards in 2020 and 2022. A resurfaced 2017 YouTube video appeared to show Booker describing herself as “a 21-year-old trans woman” dealing with conservative parents. These digital traces circulated rapidly among competitors and on social platforms, intensifying questions about her eligibility under women’s-category rules.
Event organizers opened an “urgent investigation” Monday morning, according to their later statements, contacting top finishers including Thompson. Officials said they tried to reach Booker and gave her 24 hours to respond to eligibility concerns but received no reply. They also said they had not known about her background before the event and only discovered it after the podium ceremony.
On Tuesday, November 26, the Official Strongman Games announced that Booker had been disqualified. The organization cited its rule that athletes “can only compete in the category for the biological sex recorded at birth” and recalculated results accordingly. Thompson moved into first place, Australian Allira-Joy Cowley into second, and all finalists shifted up one position.
Backlash From Sponsors and Athletes
Even before the formal disqualification, equipment company Iron Ape ended its relationship with Booker. Owner Colton Cross said she was “no longer affiliated” with the brand and alleged she had “misrepresented critical information to OSG officials and judges,” gaining an unfair edge. Cross stressed that the decision was about honesty and eligibility, not gender identity, and said the company opposed discrimination based on personal characteristics.
High-profile strongwoman athletes publicly backed Thompson and called for clear eligibility protections. Three-time World’s Strongest Woman Rebecca Roberts wrote that “trans individuals have a place in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically female-only,” arguing that the weekend’s events “lacked transparency” and had eroded trust. Donna Moore, a three-time champion, described Thompson as the “true World’s Strongest Woman” and stated that “Andrea Thompson was the real winner.”
Mitchell Hooper, the 2023 World’s Strongest Man, who attended the competition, later remarked on the striking physical disparities, saying that when he first saw Booker he thought “this woman looks different,” and estimated she was several inches taller and about 100 pounds heavier than the nearest female competitor.
Thompson herself called the experience “the most exhausting” of her career. While she welcomed recognition as champion, she said the moment had been overshadowed by “scandal and dishonesty from someone who was welcomed into our crazy sport.” She praised strongwoman as a space where women are encouraged to celebrate themselves without conforming to conventional expectations and said the controversy had unleashed a wave of online harassment against multiple athletes.
Gaps In Verification and Widening Fallout
The case exposed weaknesses in eligibility oversight. Strongman Corporation’s October 2025 qualification standards do not lay out a specific procedure for confirming biological sex, relying largely on membership records and previous competition history. That system allowed Booker, with only three professional women’s events on record, to qualify without any documented verification of sex at birth.
At stake were not only titles but also money and long-term opportunity. Top strongwoman events can carry first-place prizes around $25,000, along with crucial ranking points that determine access to future international contests. Booker’s disqualification cost her the Arlington title and the associated earnings, visibility and sponsorship potential. Thompson, in turn, secured the full winner’s purse and further strengthened her position near the top of the global rankings.
Booker’s September 2025 GoFundMe, “Help Jammie Become ‘World’s Strongest Woman,’” also came under scrutiny. The appeal raised $1,593, slightly above its $1,500 target, to pay for registration, travel and lodging in Texas. Supporters were told they were backing a female athlete with a “good chance of reaching the podium.” After the disqualification, some donors posted comments expressing feelings of betrayal and demanding refunds, accusing Booker of misrepresenting her eligibility.
Political Investigation and Future of Women’s Categories
The controversy quickly moved from sports forums into partisan politics. On November 26, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a formal investigation into the event, accusing organizers and governing bodies of undermining legal protections for women’s sport. His office pledged to take “any and all actions” to safeguard women’s competitions in Texas and nationally, casting the episode as part of a broader struggle over sex-based categories.
Paxton’s office used especially charged language, accusing organizers of allowing “the radical left to sacrifice the integrity of girls’ sports on the altar of their delusional transgender agenda.” The statement suggested potential legal consequences for event officials and raised the prospect that state law could be used to restrict transgender women from competing in female divisions.
Within the strongwoman community, the dispute has produced deep divisions. Some athletes say they have been targeted online for criticizing Booker’s participation, while others report being threatened with “cancellation” for supporting transgender inclusion. Many describe a toxic climate that extends far beyond one weekend in Texas.
For strength sports more broadly, the Booker case has become a reference point in ongoing global debates about eligibility standards. International federations in other disciplines, such as athletics, have moved toward stricter rules centered on sex at birth, and the International Olympic Committee is working on unified frameworks for gender categories. Strongwoman organizers may now face pressure to replace self-reporting with medical documentation or formal verification procedures. Such changes could further limit or effectively bar transgender women from elite women’s competition, even as advocates continue to seek ways for them to participate.
Sources:
Official Strongman Games disqualification statements
Washington Times investigation coverage
Fox News Texas AG investigation report
Daily Mail exclusive interview
Times of India international analysis
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announcement (November 26, 2025)
Strongman Corporation qualification standards (October 2025)
