People Divided Over Whether Marathon Runner Deliberately Knocked Over Water Bottles During Race

An Olympic marathon runner has sparked controversy after allegedly knocking over water bottles for other competitors. 

As the athletes approached the 17-mile mark in Sapporo, with temperatures close to 30°C, France’s Morhad Amdouni appeared to swoop the majority of bottles off the table before others could grab one.

‘Morhad Amdouni (France) deliberately knocks over all the water for his fellow contesters in the marathon. Abdi Nageeye (Holland) was directly behind him and didn’t get a bottle. Nageeye won silver. Amdouni finished 17th. Karma is a bitch,’ Peter Valstar wrote alongside the clip.

‘Apart from bad sportsmanship, with record heat and humidity, several runners passing out with dehydration or cramp, this is dangerous behaviour,’ one user reacted. ‘This isn’t his first marathon. He knows how to pick up a water bottle or a cup. Can imagine knocking over a couple (five max) but an entire row? No way that’s no deliberate. Poor sportsmanship,’ another wrote.

Others have pointed out the other water tables, with Amdouni having knocked over bottles on the first of five. ‘Specific bottles for each participants are available before the video. In this longer video, we can also see that there is also a second table 15m after,’ one wrote.

‘He’s not next to the table. He’s having to bend and stretch whilst running at speed. He’s sandwiched between other runners. No doubt absolutely knackered by the heat & humidity. Benefit of the doubt, it was an accident,’ another tweeted.