French runner Morhad Amdouni has broken his silence after a controversial video spread on social media from the men's marathon event at Tokyo 2020.
In the video, Amdouni is seen knocking off an entire row of water bottles from a refreshment table at one of the race's hydration stations during the event. Amdouni then takes the final bottle for himself before accelerating into the distance.
The video quickly caused a row on social media, with many keen to accuse Amdouni of unsportsmanlike conduct, acting in a manner which betrays the Olympic spirit, and even cheating.
There were however others who defended his actions and considered the whole affair to be an accident which has been blown out of proportion.
Amdouni has posted on Facebook to respond to the allegations of gamesmanship and tried to explain just how he managed to hit all of the bottles with bizarre reasoning.
Amdouni wrote: "To guarantee freshness to the bottles, these 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 these barely slide we touch them.
"With fatigue and all that, I was gradually starting to lose lucidity and energy, while hanging on."
Amdouni was keen to say sorry for his actions in spite of the apparently accidental nature of the incident. He said: "I would like to apologise to the athletes. At one point, I was trying to be able to hold a bottle of water but I dropped some. It was not easy, trying to be able to hang on.
"In principle, I try to be able to share also during the race, the bottles of water, while respecting everyone and going high and proud, to be able to fight for our colours of the jersey."
Amdouni finished 17th in the marathon which took place in aggressive temperatures on Sunday morning, with Team GB's Callum Hawkins one of 31 athletes to withdraw from the race. Eliud Kipchoge retained his Olympic crown and further cemented his legacy as one of the greatest long-distance runners ever.
