Brazilian powerlifter Renata Touma has broken her silence after a mortifying competition mishap saw her lose control of her bladder while attempting a 424lb deadlift.
The athlete was competing at the Copa SP de Levantamento Terra in São Paulo on October 17 when the accident happened.
Footage shared by Touma herself showed her gripping the loaded barbell before trying to pull it from the floor.
Highlights
- Renata Touma lost control of her bladder while attempting a 424lb deadlift at a competition in São Paulo.
- The clip went viral, with viewers mocking the accident while others explained that urinary leakage is common among female powerlifters.
- Touma said she plans to return to competition and eventually move beyond the 424lb mark.
As she strained under the weight, liquid could be seen spilling onto the platform.
She failed to complete the lift.
The clip quickly spread across social media, where some viewers mocked the accident while others rushed to defend the athlete.
“Diapers should be compulsory in sports now,” one viewer joked.
Renata Touma was attempting a 424lb deadlift when she lost control of her bladder
Touma is a Brazilian nutritionist, personal trainer and professional powerlifter with more than 44,000 Instagram followers.
She was competing in the 150lb division when she stepped onto the platform for the now-viral attempt.
For anyone unfamiliar with powerlifting, the sport revolves around three main lifts: the squat, bench press and deadlift.
In a deadlift, the athlete must raise a loaded barbell from the floor until they are standing upright with their knees and hips fully extended.
Touma was attempting 192.5kg, or more than 424 pounds.
The footage shows her approaching the bar, setting her stance and beginning the pull. As the weight rises, her body visibly strains and liquid begins falling onto the platform.
Touma ultimately cannot complete the movement.
Rather than hiding the footage, however, she uploaded it herself, using it to show her followers the extent to which athletes like her go to compete.
“Strength isn’t just about the weight you lift,” she wrote. “It’s also about the decisions you make, the discipline you build and how you respond to challenges.”
“You can’t control everything that happens. But you can decide what to do with what is within your reach.”
The accident quickly became the only thing people wanted to talk about
The clip quickly drew thousands of reactions, with many viewers unable to look past what had happened on the platform.
“Do they get extra points for p******?” one person joked. “Lift - 20%, Pee - 80%,” another added.
Others, however, were far less surprised.
Several people familiar with powerlifting pointed out that losing control of the bladder during an extremely heavy lift is a known problem among female athletes.
Touma’s accident is consistent with stress urinary incontinence, which happens when pressure on the bladder causes involuntary leakage.
Despite the name, it has nothing to do with feeling psychologically stressed.
Heavy lifting can dramatically increase pressure inside the abdomen, which in turn places more strain on the pelvic floor.
And Touma is far from the only powerlifter to experience it.
A 2026 study of 1,072 female powerlifters found that 67.3% had experienced stress urinary incontinence while lifting at least once.
Deadlifts were particularly problematic, with 58.9% of those surveyed reporting leakage during the exercise.
Touma has no intention of letting the viral moment stop her
The viral moment has apparently done little to change Touma’s competitive plans.
In follow-up posts after the October 17 event, she said the 424lb mark had once seemed like a distant goal but had now become a weight she was attempting on the competition platform.
“What was once a dream is now my third attempt,” she said.
Rather than simply promising to come back and complete the same lift, Touma suggested she intends to raise the bar even further.
“And I promise that, in the next competition, that number will go up and I’ll manage to complete it!”
"Nothing to be ashamed of." Touma's fans defended her from the relentless online trolling
