An Olympic marathon runner has come under fire after knocking over a series of water bottles before grabbing the last one for himself.
During the 26-mile Olympic race in Sapporo, French athlete Morhad Amdouni sparked controversy after appearing to knock over a full row of water bottles at a water station before taking the last one in the line for himself and continuing with the run.
The incident quickly went viral and the runner’s actions have come under scrutiny with critics calling for the athlete to be disciplined.
“Thoughts on Amdouni knocking over an entire row of water before taking the last one?” Australian runner Ben St Lawrence tweeted as he pointed out the incident.
Thoughts on Amdouni knocking over an entire row of water before taking the last one? pic.twitter.com/qrPaSzxLBW
ADVERTISEMENT — Ben St Lawrence (@bennysaint) August 8, 2021
While some viewers suggested the falling bottles might have been an accident, the majority of people insisted that Amdouni knocked them over on purpose so that the competitors behind him wouldn’t get any water.
We can not confirm whether the marathon runner’s actions were deliberate or not.
Following the incident, calls for the athlete to be disqualified erupted on social media with angry people accusing Amdouni of being unfair.
“The Gold medal for biggest d*ckhead of the Tokyo Olympics goes to French marathon runner Morhad Amdouni who deliberately knocks over all the water for his fellow competitors,” British critic and broadcaster Piers Morgan tweeted.
“Cheating and sabotage is not a winning attitude I’m afraid!!” another viewer wrote.
The third said: “He’s that kid in school who asks his mates to go for a kickabout in the park & when he’s losing says he’s not playing anymore & takes his ball back.”
Some, however, ran to the runner’s defense.
“Watch it through frame by frame, nothing deliberate about it and the way the bottles are lined up it’s going to happen eventually,” someone wrote.
“After 1.27 hours of running the guy is knackered. The runner one ahead grabs the first but knocks over the second which French runner would have had his eye on. He’s a split second to readjust and fumbles it.
“The runner behind him pushes through almost shoving his arm out of the way the French hand pulls back slightly then in an act of desperation dives in for one more go at speed and manages to grab the last one. I reckon he did pretty good to get that under the circumstances.”
Following the incident, the 33-year-old French athlete finished 14th, whereas the race was won by Kenyan star Eliud Kipchoge.
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