Some people are calling it cheating while others are saying it is just a friendly tactic. But whatever you might want to think, French runner Morhad Amdouni deliberate act of knocking over an entire row of water bottles at the hydration stations during the men’s Olympic marathon in Tokyo on Sunday has certainly sparked some controversy.
You can watch the short clip below to make your own judgement of the situation, but those who’ve already seen it and even watched it live, were certainly not impressed by Amdouni’s actions and it’s provoked widespread anger especially given that the temperatures and humidity were at a high level during the race.
READ MORE: Eliud Kipchoge retains Olympic marathon title
The video clip showed that as Amdouni approached the water station the 2018 European 10,000m champion used his right hand to purposefully clear the closest row of water bottles on the course in Sapporo before grabbing the last one for himself.
Several people took to social media to share their views about the incident with some calling the act “disgusting” and even requesting for the Frenchman to be disqualified from the race.
Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya who led the pack at the time and was able to grab his water bottle, but several runners behind him had to continue without being hydrated
Kipchoge went on to retain his Olympic marathon title after clocking 2:08:38, while Amdouni finished 17th with a time of 2:14:33.
One of the runners behind the 33-year-old Frenchman who was affected by his foolish action, Abdi Nageeye from The Netherlands who was directly behind him and didn’t get a water bottle, ended with the silver medal.
Crazy, huh!
