French marathon runner Morhad Amdouni has broken his silence after appearing to deliberately knock over water bottles.
Amdouni shocked viewers for his actions during the men's marathon at the Tokyo Olympics.
He knocked over a row of water bottles at the 28km mark of the marathon, with athletes trailing him failing to hydrate themselves amid the grueling race and Sapporo heat.
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Fans and critics alike slammed the 33-year-old for his lack of sportsmanship.
But he denies any wrongdoing, claiming the water bottles were 'slippery'.
In a social media post, he said: "To guarantee freshness to the bottles, these are soaked in water.
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"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."
Amdouni also addressed the incident in a video, where he apologised to his opponents.
He said: "With fatigue and all that, I was gradually starting to lose lucidity and energy, while hanging on.
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"I would like to apologize 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 colors of the jersey."
Amdouni went onto finish 17th, over five minutes behind winner Eliud Kipchoge who took home the gold medal.
Too much water maybe weighed him down...
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Tokyo Olympics
