Transgender Athlete Stripped of Title: Women’s Sports Rules Trigger Backlash

Paul Riverbank, 11/28/2025Controversy erupts after transgender strongwoman is stripped of title, sparking renewed debate over fairness.

News doesn't always travel by official channels. For Booker, 28, whispers began in the least flattering corners of the internet. First, a handful of explicit photos and videos—traces of a past adult film career under the alias “Jammie Jay”—emerged online. Within hours, those images had reached the inboxes and group chats of her competitors. Andrea Thompson, who’d placed just behind Booker, was blunt: “We got links sent from an adult site. Very explicit. It snowballed from there, and suddenly everyone’s talking about gender, not reps or weights.”

The organization overseeing the competition didn’t hesitate. Their statement was brief and, to some, devastatingly direct: Only athletes assigned female at birth could enter. “It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category,” they said, making it clear that victory wasn’t a matter of muscle alone. The rules, already printed in black and white, left little to interpretation.

Booker herself has not commented, at least not publicly—organizers claim they tried, but there’s been no word from her end. Thompson, now declared the official winner, recalls the call she received early that morning. “It was basically: ‘This just landed on our desk… we’re stunned, and we’re investigating right now.’ Honestly, you don’t expect that kind of news before sunrise.”

The controversy pulled double-duty: not only did it drag Booker’s adult film work into the harsh spotlight but, more sharply, cast fresh scrutiny on the still-bitter debate over who exactly belongs in women’s sports. This is not a new argument, though each incident, some say, raises the emotional stakes. Governing bodies in the UK—British Cycling, Athletics, World Rugby and others—have edged toward exclusion policies, while organizations like the English Football Association attempt a middle ground, setting strict criteria like testosterone suppression.

All the same, for those inside women’s athletics, the question seems more personal than political. Athletes juggle everyday logistics—extra training, dinner with partners (Booker had once joked in an interview about juggling dates through “a Google calendar”), the odd bad workout. But when the internet collides real life with internet notoriety, seasons and, apparently, entire careers can turn on a dime.

Sports organizers, perhaps wary of backlash, now say they’ll verify birth sex for all significant winners going forward. This case, they argue, wasn’t about the running feud over inclusion, but rather a necessary enforcement of the rules everyone had signed up for. Yet, one asks: Can fairness and inclusion ever be genuinely reconciled in the eyes of everyone watching? Booker's case is another chapter in a very public, ambiguous tug-of-war.

As policies shift and the UK’s Supreme Court prepares to weigh in on the meaning of legal gender under the Equality Act next spring, it seems likely that the next headline is only ever a click away. For now, the line between fairness and inclusion remains—and when it comes to women’s sport, every line is closely watched, debated, and, perhaps, redrawn tomorrow.

Amid the hum of the speakers and the adrenaline-fueled cheers that filled the arena in Arlington, Texas, Jammie Booker’s moment on the strongwoman winner’s podium seemed destined for highlight reels—a new champion crowned. Yet, Booker’s celebration barely lasted through the weekend before everything, quite literally, unraveled.News doesn't always travel by official channels. For Booker, 28, whispers began in the least flattering corners of the internet. First, a handful of explicit photos and videos—traces of a past adult film career under the alias “Jammie Jay”—emerged online. Within hours, those images had reached the inboxes and group chats of her competitors. Andrea Thompson, who’d placed just behind Booker, was blunt: “We got links sent from an adult site. Very explicit. It snowballed from there, and suddenly everyone’s talking about gender, not reps or weights.”The organization overseeing the competition didn’t hesitate. Their statement was brief and, to some, devastatingly direct: Only athletes assigned female at birth could enter. “It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women’s Open category,” they said, making it clear that victory wasn’t a matter of muscle alone. The rules, already printed in black and white, left little to interpretation.Booker herself has not commented, at least not publicly—organizers claim they tried, but there’s been no word from her end. Thompson, now declared the official winner, recalls the call she received early that morning. “It was basically: ‘This just landed on our desk… we’re stunned, and we’re investigating right now.’ Honestly, you don’t expect that kind of news before sunrise.”The controversy pulled double-duty: not only did it drag Booker’s adult film work into the harsh spotlight but, more sharply, cast fresh scrutiny on the still-bitter debate over who exactly belongs in women’s sports. This is not a new argument, though each incident, some say, raises the emotional stakes. Governing bodies in the UK—British Cycling, Athletics, World Rugby and others—have edged toward exclusion policies, while organizations like the English Football Association attempt a middle ground, setting strict criteria like testosterone suppression.All the same, for those inside women’s athletics, the question seems more personal than political. Athletes juggle everyday logistics—extra training, dinner with partners (Booker had once joked in an interview about juggling dates through “a Google calendar”), the odd bad workout. But when the internet collides real life with internet notoriety, seasons and, apparently, entire careers can turn on a dime.Sports organizers, perhaps wary of backlash, now say they’ll verify birth sex for all significant winners going forward. This case, they argue, wasn’t about the running feud over inclusion, but rather a necessary enforcement of the rules everyone had signed up for. Yet, one asks: Can fairness and inclusion ever be genuinely reconciled in the eyes of everyone watching? Booker's case is another chapter in a very public, ambiguous tug-of-war.As policies shift and the UK’s Supreme Court prepares to weigh in on the meaning of legal gender under the Equality Act next spring, it seems likely that the next headline is only ever a click away. For now, the line between fairness and inclusion remains—and when it comes to women’s sport, every line is closely watched, debated, and, perhaps, redrawn tomorrow.