{"id":26306,"date":"2026-08-06T12:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T12:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=26306"},"modified":"2026-08-06T12:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T12:31:00","slug":"powerlifter-spotter-makes-racist-claim-after-sabotaging-record-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=26306","title":{"rendered":"Powerlifter spotter makes \u2018racist\u2019 claim after sabotaging record attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-1ihz57b-0\" data-component=\"SupportNSCNative\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"independent\">\n<div data-theme-wrapper=\"independent\" style=\"display:contents\">\n<aside class=\"sc-hez36s-0 dFpFuY\">\n<div class=\"sc-hez36s-1 iBibVd\">\n<h3 data-testid=\"support-nsc-title\" class=\"sc-hez36s-2 flaoin\">Your support helps us to tell the story<\/h3>\n<div class=\"sc-hez36s-8 juUDRT\">\n<div class=\"sc-hez36s-13 cqPbFA\">\n<div class=\"sc-aja53j-0 rAFIl sc-hez36s-16 jZSKtc\">\n<div class=\"sc-aja53j-6 PdmgT\">\n<div data-testid=\"dropdown-with-gradient-collapsed-content-container\" class=\"sc-aja53j-5 eZqxmv\">\n<div>\n<div data-testid=\"dropdown-with-gradient-collapsed-content\" class=\"sc-aja53j-4 eDkVwv\">\n<div>\n<div data-testid=\"support-nsc-collapsed-content-tablet\" class=\"sc-hez36s-7 dbIJRT\">\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 eRQajs\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><button class=\"sc-aja53j-1 keLMOw sc-aja53j-7 eMEmGu\"><span data-testid=\"dropdown-with-gradient-dropdown-tablet\" class=\"sc-aja53j-3 dHXFkr\"><span data-action-type=\"Read more\" class=\"sc-aja53j-2 iKklLt\">Read more<\/span><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 gRZTFM sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-a5wy94-0 hyKPon\" viewbox=\"0 0 12 12\"><use href=\"#ee6613da15642019\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A spotter at the Powerlifting Championships is under investigation after admitting he sabotaged a black athlete\u2019s record attempt at the event because he was \u201ca racist\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ernestas Kusinas, a spotter, was filmed putting his knee under the barbell as Belgian powerlifter Sonita Muluh attempted to squat 334.5kg at the Championships in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/lithuania\">Lithuania<\/a> this June. Spotters are not allowed to touch weights if the athlete can lift them entirely unassisted, rendering Muluh\u2019s attempt invalid.<\/p>\n<p>She was disqualified and not allowed another attempt by judges as a result of a different technical infringement, but the incident has since made headlines after Kusinas replied to an Instagram video accusing him of racism declaring: \u201cI am a racist, and I did it intentionally, because I hate you pieces of s***.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The comment triggered the Lithuanian Powerlifting Federation to issue Kusinas with a lifetime ban and to refer the incident to police, who are conducting a criminal investigation. Kusinas could face up to two years in prison. <\/p>\n<p>He told Reuters the comment, made on Instagram, was written in anger in response to the social media user &#8211; who has not been identified &#8211; accusing him of racism, and that he intended it as mockery of the allegation. Kusinas has since switched his social media accounts to private.<\/p>\n<p>He also told Reuters that he had been tired at the event and had unintentionally interfered with Muluh\u2019s attempt and those by other athletes as a result. <\/p>\n<p>Muluh, who is of Cameroonian descent, told BBC Sport that she initially thought Kusinas\u2019 made a \u201chuman mistake that cost me a lot on the day\u201d and did not bear him any ill-will.<\/p>\n<p>She said: \u201cHe did not reach out afterwards to apologise, but he is not obliged to. But there was no hatred [from me]. I didn&#8217;t lash out; didn&#8217;t curse at him. There was a video of it posted afterwards and I said: &#8216;I hope he does not get hate.&#8217; I believed it was an honest mistake, and then I find out five weeks later that he said this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 29-year-old called on the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF), the sport\u2019s governing body, to undertake background checks on spotters and accused it of having \u201cfailed her\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>She said: \u201cIf you are going to put my life in someone else&#8217;s hands, at least make sure that person is well equipped to be able to protect me or keep me from harm. But they failed me [through] negligence and putting my life in danger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Kusinas] doubled down in his racist behaviour. Only now is he saying it was a joke. There&#8217;s nothing jokey about any of what he said. He put my life in danger. Nobody spots like that, with their knee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPowerlifting has been a very supportive niche sport, so far. But who is standing up for athletes against racism? This situation has changed my view a lot. There&#8217;s a lot of people who didn&#8217;t speak out about it. A lot of big names didn&#8217;t say a word about it. They didn&#8217;t reach out to me. All the black athletes reached out, so we all supported each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The IPF said: \u201cThe IPF unequivocally condemns racism, discrimination, and hateful conduct in all its forms. Such behaviour has no place within the IPF or the global powerlifting community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe acknowledge and commend the Lithuanian Powerlifting Federation for its prompt and decisive response to this matter, including its immediate action to permanently ban the individual from participation within the federation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The governing body added that \u201cracism, discrimination, and hate have no place in our sport\u201d and said it would work to \u201cstrengthen the recruitment, screening, accreditation, and oversight of volunteers supporting IPF events\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/powerlifter-spotter-racist-claim-sabotaging-record-attempt-b3028629.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1095,"featured_media":26307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-powerlifting-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Powerlifter spotter makes \u2018racist\u2019 claim after sabotaging record attempt - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=26306\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Powerlifter spotter makes \u2018racist\u2019 claim after sabotaging record attempt - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. 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