Olympic Marathon Runner Sparks Controversy by Knocking Over Rivals' Water Bottles

French runner Morhad Amdouni sparked controversy during the Olympic men's marathon when he knocked over a row of water bottles during the race, before grabbing the last one.

Footage of the moment showed several runners quickly reach for a bottle from a hydration station before continuing the race in sweltering heat in Sapporo, Japan, on Sunday.

But when it came to Amdouni, he managed to knock over almost an entire row of the bottles before grabbing the last one left on the table.

Australian long-distance runner Ben St Lawrence tweeted an 8-second clip of the moment, which has amassed more than a million views so far.

"Thoughts on Amdouni knocking over an entire row of water before taking the last one?" he wrote.

Many criticized Amdouni—who finished 17th in the race–and accused him of poor sportsmanship.

Piers Morgan was among the critics convinced Amdouni's actions were deliberate, branding the runner the "biggest d*ckhead of the Tokyo Olympics."

He wrote on Twitter: "BREAKING: The Gold medal for biggest d*ckhead of the Tokyo Olympics goes to French marathon runner Morhad Amdouni who deliberately knocks over all the water for his fellow competitors...Unbelievable!"

Television presenter Julia Bradbury wrote: "Extreme #loser French marathon runner Mohad Amdouni knocks over all the water deliberately so his competitors can't take a drink. Don't get me started about the waste.. but basically what a t*at."

Dutch politician Peter Valstar noted that a runner who was behind Amdouni ended up winning silver.

"Morhad Amdouni (France) deliberately knocks over all the water for his fellow contesters in the marathon," Valstar wrote. "Abdi Nageeye (Holland) was directly behind him and didn't get a bottle. Nageeye won silver. Amdouni finished 17th. Karma is a b*tch."

However, some Twitter users gave Amdouni the benefit of the doubt.

"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," one wrote.

Others said there was another table stacked with water bottles that the brief clip didn't capture.

"There was another table of water just down the road out of camera shot," one user wrote. "He genuinely tries to pick one up while running at 3 mins /km. Very very hard to do. The second table meant no one would go without. Watch the next 10 seconds of race b4 you judge him."

Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge took gold after winning his second consecutive Olympic marathon in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 38 seconds. Nageeye won silver and Belgium's Bashir Abdi won bronze.