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Olympic French runner Morhad Amdouni is defending himself this week after he was heavily criticized for knocking over his opponents' water bottles during the men’s marathon event in Tokyo.
Amdouni, 33, took to social media to address the recent controversy surrounding an incident at the Games where he was seen, in a now-viral video, knocking over an entire row of water bottles before grabbing one for himself, leaving none for the opponents behind him.
In several postings to his social media pages, Amdouni explains that the bottles were "slippery" and he accidentally knocked the row over while attempting to just grab the first bottle.
"To guarantee freshness to the bottles, these are soaked in water. Which makes them slippery," he explained in a Facebook post. "It is clear that I am trying to get one from the beginning of the row but these slide when we barely touch them."
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Amdouni said in another video on his Instagram that exhaustion also played a role.
"With fatigue and all that, I was gradually starting to lose lucidity and energy, while hanging on," he said, via RMC Sport. "I would like to apologize to the athletes."
Morhad Amdouni of France poses with his gold medal for the men's 10,000 meters during day two of the 24th European Athletics Championships at Breitscheidplatz on Aug. 8, 2018, in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Kern/Getty Images)
"At one point, I tried to hold a bottle of water but I dropped some. It was not easy, trying to be able to hang on"
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Amdouni faced major backlash for allegedly trying to sabotage his fellow competitors in a race where temperatures soared to 84 degrees Fahrenheit.
He ultimately finished in 17th place.
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