A biological male has won an international strongman competition, defeating a field of women and coming just one point in front of the second-place finisher. Jammie Booker scored 47 points to Andrea Thompson’s 46 points. 

The 2025 Cerberus Strength Official Strongman Games took place between November 20 and 23 in Arlington, Texas. The event is described as a “festival of strength that brings together over 400 of the top Strongman and Strongwoman athletes from nearly 40 countries. The athletes will be competing for the World’s Strongest title across multiple divisions.” Winning the title of World’s Strongest Female in the Women’s Open division was Booker. 

While standing on the podium, Thompson could be seen saying “this is bullsh*t” and “can we go” before leaving the podium. Women’s sports advocate and XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey wrote, “Yup. That about says it all.” Posts shared to Thompson’s Instagram story showed others crowning her the “real World’s Strongest WOMAN.”

Rebecca Roberts, a three-time winner of World’s Strongest Woman, posted in the wake of Booker’s win to Instagram a photo that stated “protect women’s sports.” She wrote, “I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth. But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women’s strength sports. Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category.”

“This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else. Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.

“What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack. My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only. I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever,” she added, congratulating Thompson and crowning her “the true Worlds Strongest Woman 2025.” Roberts had been set to compete in the same competition but had to pull out due to a knee injury.

Per the Daily Mail, one of Booker’s sponsors, Iron Ape, said that it Booker was “no longer affiliated” with the sporting equipment brand “in any capacity after the controversy surrounding her ‘win.'”

Iron Ape owner Colton Cross said in a statement, “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.”

In a 2017 YouTube video posted to a channel that reportedly belongs to Booker, the lifter said, “Everyone is dying to tell their own story and I am obviously 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.”

Many noted parallels to a 2019 South Park episode in which an extremely muscular, bearded male athlete wins a woman’s strongman competition. 

Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines wrote in response to the biological male’s win, “The South Park meme has officially (and accurately) been recreated. Just brilliant.”

“It never ends,” wrote Donald Trump Jr. 

“South Park predicted this,” another user wrote.