Belgian Powerlifter Victim of Racist Sabotage at Worlds

Belgian powerlifter Sonita Muluh, reigning world champion in the super-heavyweight category, was deliberately sabotaged by a spotter during her decisive attempt at the World Classic Powerlifting Championships in Druskininkai, Lithuania, on June 21. The spotter, Lithuanian Ernestas Kusinas, later confessed on social media that the act was intentional and racially motivated, according to RTBF.

A Champion on the Brink of History

Muluh, 29, of Cameroonian origin and based in Antwerp, is one of the most accomplished female powerlifters in the world. She became the first woman in history to exceed 300 kilograms in the squat and claimed the world title in 2024. Her resume includes two world silver medals (2023, 2025), two European titles (2022, 2025), and a silver medal at the 2025 World Games.

At the championships in Lithuania, Muluh was attempting a 334-kilogram squat — a weight that would have set a new world record and secured her a second world title. As RTL reported, one of the five spotters positioned around the athlete deliberately placed his knee under the bar, preventing her from completing the movement properly. The attempt was declared invalid.

Despite her coach’s protests, the jury refused to grant Muluh a retry — a decision that effectively ended her bid for a second world championship.

The Confession That Changed Everything

Initially, Muluh believed the interference was an honest mistake. She publicly defended the spotter, hoping he would not face online harassment. But weeks later, the case took a dramatic turn when American powerlifter Joe Sullivan shared video of the incident on Instagram. Under that post, Kusinas confessed in a comment: “Sorry for you bunch of idiots. I am racist and I did it on purpose because I hate you, you pieces of s***.”

According to VRT NWS, Kusinas also compared Muluh to a monkey and signed his message with the number “88,” a well-known neo-Nazi symbol meaning “Heil Hitler.”

The Lithuanian Powerlifting Federation responded swiftly, banning Kusinas for life, stating that “such behavior is incompatible with the values and standards of our sport."

"Someone Wanted to Harm Me Because of My Skin Color”

In an emotional interview with RTBF, Muluh spoke publicly for the first time about the incident’s devastating impact.

“Before, I thought it was an honest mistake, because I didn’t want to believe that someone could deliberately try to harm me or prevent me from doing something I had trained so hard for,” she said. “And now, I have to see things differently: someone deliberately tried to hurt me. And that was solely because of the color of my skin.”

The consequences extend far beyond the emotional toll. Muluh revealed that she lost financial support from sponsors directly because of the failed performance. “I lost financial support from sponsors because I couldn’t achieve a good performance at the World Championships,” she told RTBF. “I lost a record I had worked extremely hard for.”

Systemic Failures Called Into Question

Muluh’s case has raised serious questions about institutional accountability in the sport. She pointed out that Kusinas had openly displayed neo-Nazi affiliations on social media before the incident, yet was still allowed to serve as a spotter at a world championship event.

“They don’t check their past,” Muluh said. “This man openly displayed on social media that he was a neo-Nazi. He published many contents in that direction. A federation should not be able to overlook this kind of thing.”

She also criticized the Belgian Powerlifting Federation for its response. “No one called me,” she said. “No one from the Belgian federation contacted me to simply ask how I was doing.” While the federation later expressed support, Muluh argued the response came too late. “Now that the whole powerlifting community is outraged, I feel like the federation leaders are trying to give the impression that they’re doing me justice. But that’s not justice. It’s too late, I lost that title and the sponsors.”

The Belgian federation told RTL it was “in shock” and had contacted the international and Lithuanian federations to investigate whether other athletes of color may have been targeted.

The International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) condemned racism “unequivocally” and announced it would strengthen recruitment, selection, accreditation, and monitoring of volunteers at IPF events, as France Info reported.

A Broader Pattern of Racism

Muluh’s experience is not isolated. She told RMC Sport that Black athletes remain very few in powerlifting and that she has faced racism during competitions before.

“When I won the silver medal at the World Games for Belgium, Belgians called me an ‘ugly troll’ on the internet,” she recalled. “I remember that after that competition, when we returned to the hotel in Lithuania, I told my partner that I felt I had to work ten times harder than my opponents just because of the color of my skin. No one should feel that way.”

The incident has also drawn attention to the role of spotters in powerlifting — safety assistants who are not supposed to touch the bar unless the athlete is in danger. The IPF rules explicitly state that an athlete deprived of a successful attempt due to an error by a spotter should be granted a new attempt at the discretion of the referees. The jury’s refusal to apply this rule in Muluh’s case has raised further questions about potential bias.

What’s Next

The IPF has pledged to review its volunteer screening procedures, and the Belgian federation has said it will await the IPF’s findings before re-establishing contact with Muluh. But for the champion, these measures cannot undo the damage.

“Nothing will give me back what I lost,” she said.

The case has sparked widespread outrage across the international powerlifting community and renewed calls for stronger anti-racism measures in sports. As Brussels Today noted, the incident has become a symbol of the challenges Black athletes continue to face in predominantly white sports.

For Muluh, the path forward is uncertain. She has lost a world title, a world record, and sponsor support — all because of the color of her skin. But her willingness to speak out has brought international attention to a deeply troubling incident, and her voice may prove instrumental in driving the systemic changes the sport so clearly needs.