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Women’s weightlifters Hailey Sikman and Jade Dickens thought they would compete in the World’s Strongest Woman Normal Championship last weekend. Instead, they witnessed the latest national controversy over trans athletes up close.
Transgender athlete Jammie Booker won first place in the women’s heavyweight division, beating competitor Andrea Thompson by one point. However, once Booker’s biological sex was revealed, Official Strongman revised the results to give Thompson the top spot.
Sikman and Dickens told PK Press Club Digital that they did not learn of Booker’s biological sex until after the competition.
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Andrea Thompson, left, finished second to a suspected transgender athlete in the 2025 World’s Strongest Woman competition. (Laurence Shahlaei)
“Unfortunately, Jammie Booker got the better of Andrea Thompson right at the end. And the promoters, nor the athletes, didn’t know until after the awards ceremony and after everyone had left that Jammie Booker was actually Jeffrey Booker and that he was a man,” Dickens said.
“I was beyond mad. … If I had known, I definitely would have done something, personally, I would have done something before the event was over. But no one knew. No one knew it was a man.”
Dickens said she believes the organization would have removed Booker from competition if it had known the athlete’s birth sex.
“If they had that knowledge, they would have taken care of it before the competition even started,” Dickens said.
Sikman also claimed that she did not know Booker’s biological sex until after the competition ended. Still, Sikman had suspicions about Booker based on the athlete’s appearance.
“He definitely made a mistake and manipulated a situation,” Sikman said.
During the competition, Sikman attempted to interact with the trans athlete, believing Booker to be a woman, she said.
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“I tried to talk to him, and he kind of blew me up,” Sikman added.
Dickens said of Booker’s behavior at the event: “I didn’t speak to him personally. …He was actually quite calm. …In my opinion, the reason he didn’t speak much was because his voice would have given away that he was a man.
Sikman claimed to have spoken to other competitors who remembered Booker’s behavior over the weekend.
“A lot of other women were saying he was just arrogant and talking shit,” Sikman said.
Dickens also recalled what she had heard from other competitors about Booker’s conduct, saying, “In this competitive atmosphere, everyone digs a little bit.” [Trash talking] arrived. It happens in all sports. »
Monday, Booker posted a video on Instagram thanking many people for their help in what was originally a victory.
A YouTube video from what appears to be Booker’s own channel, from 2017, shows Booker pretending to be “trans”.
According to Strongman ArchivesBooker hadn’t competed in women’s events until last June. It is unclear whether Booker had ever competed as a man.
The Strongman official announced that Booker would be disqualified. Strongman said he attempted to contact Booker, “but no response was received.”
Sikman hopes to see stricter measures to prevent men from sneaking into women’s competitions, saying she hopes “genetic testing or some sort of vetting process” can be used by Official Strongman.
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Dickens said she has been advocating for the protection of women’s sports since 2018 because she has previously seen men compete in her powerlifting federation. She hopes the public will become aware of this problem.
“People keep saying it’s not a problem, it doesn’t happen that often, it’s going to go away,” Dickens said. “Where is our trust? It just destroys the fabric of womanhood. … We want to trust everyone around us, and when men come in and deceitfully try to take what is rightfully a woman’s, it erodes trust in that woman.”
