During the men’s marathon occasion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, French runner Morhad Amdouni was filmed knocking more than a row of bottles at a rehydration station ahead of grabbing the last one. Viral footage of the moment sparked enormous backlash on social media, exactly where a lot of accused Mr Amdouni of knocking the bottles more than deliberately in order to sabotage his competitors. The 33-year-old has now opened up about his side of the story, saying that he ended up knocking the bottles down simply because they had been also slippery to choose up.
Footage of the water bottles becoming knocked more than by Mr Amdouni for the duration of the men’s marathon occasion went massively viral on social media. Sharing the video on Twitter, Australian former Olympic distance runner Ben St Lawrence asked: “Thoughts on Amdouni knocking over an entire row of water before taking the last one?”
Thoughts on Amdouni knocking more than an complete row of water ahead of taking the last one? pic.twitter.com/qrPaSzxLBW
— Ben St Lawrence (@bennysaint) August 8, 2021
The video racked up more than 5 million views on the microblogging platform, exactly where a lot of accused the French marathon runner of sweeping the bottles off the table in order to make it more tricky for his competitors to grab one. A quantity of persons criticised his behaviour as unsportsmanlike.
“It is clear from video you were trying to stop the man in front of you from getting water,” wrote one Twitter user.
@MorhadAmdouni it is clear from video you exactly where attempting to quit the man in front of you from finding water. I hope you are thrown out of sports.
— Jerilyn A. Schultz (@jerilyn_schultz) August 9, 2021
Another stated that persons defending his actions had been mistaken also. “He’s looking down exactly at what he’s doing, and didn’t have any trouble in grabbing the last one,” the Twitter user stated.
Some persons have attempted to defend him saying it really is challenging to grab these drinks when operating. But, he’s searching down specifically at what he’s carrying out, and did not have any difficulty in grabbing the last one.
— Chester Payne (@saldiven) August 9, 2021
“No way that’s not deliberate. Poor sportsmanship,” a user remarked.
BS. This is not his 1st marathon. He knows how to choose up a water bottle or a cup. Can think about knocking more than a couple (5 max) but an complete row? No way that is no deliberate. Poor sportsmanship.
— Nona Rose (@nona80_swanette) August 8, 2021
On Monday, Mr Amdouni released a video defending his actions.
“To put an end to all the controversy from the video, I show this video to actually understand what happened,” he stated, according to CBS News. “To guarantee freshness to the bottles, they are soaked in water, which makes them slippery. However, it is clear that I am trying to get one from the beginning of the row but they slip as soon as we touch them.”
The French runner completed at the 17th spot in the men’s marathon occasion at Olympics. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won the gold medal in the marathon occasion.