A newly surfaced video from the Official Strongman Games World Championships 2025 appears to show the tense moment British athlete Andrea Thompson walked off the podium moments after being awarded second place behind American competitor Jammie Booker — a result that has since been overturned.
Just days after the event, the Official Strongman Games (OSG) confirmed that Booker had been disqualified and stripped of her title after organisers discovered she was ineligible to compete in the Women’s Open category.
In a statement shared to its social media channels, OSG said officials were unaware that Booker is “a biological male who now identifies as female” before the competition began, and that the matter was investigated immediately after it was brought to their attention.
In their statement, OSG said: “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.”
Organisers added: “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.”
Following the disqualification, Thompson was reinstated as the official World’s Strongest Woman 2025, a title she had originally been denied on stage.
Speaking of the stage, footage of the winners’ podium has since been widely circulated on social media.
The clip, filmed during the awards ceremony in Arlington, Texas, captures the tense aftermath of one of the most controversial conclusions in strongwoman history. In the footage, Booker is seen smiling and holding her trophy aloft in the top spot, while Thompson stands beside her, visibly unimpressed.
As the crowd applauds, lipreaders on social media believe Thompson can be seen saying: “This is bulls**t. Can we go?” before stepping away from the podium and leaving the stage area. Booker, appearing momentarily confused, raises her hand in apparent bewilderment.
READ MORE: How The Strongman Community Reacted To Andrea Thompson’s Eventual Win
The moment has since been widely circulated across social media platforms, with many fans interpreting it as a raw, unfiltered reaction to a result that would later be reversed.
Addressing the controversy in a post titled “What a day”, Thompson later spoke out about her eventual victory. “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,” she wrote. “A sport which encourages women to celebrate themselves without being judged on how society says they should be.”
She continued: “I can honestly say that no one, including the @officialstrongmangames team had any clue what was about to transpire. No one had any reason to suspect otherwise. 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.”
Thompson went on to thank organisers for acting quickly, writing: “I am 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.”
Meanwhile, despite initially sharing a video celebrating her victory, Booker has since set her Instagram profile to private following the OSG’s ruling and the subsequent backlash.
For now, the moment stands as one of the defining images of the 2025 Official Strongman Games — a single piece of footage that captured both the tension of the event and the storm that would follow.
Featured image credit: X (screenshot)
