Any Doubt This Was Intentional?

[jdb in AZ]

Hot, muggy marathon. Thirty olympic runners had already withdrawn. Two-thirds into the race, the French guy wipes out water station for the competition, tho he managed to snag the last bottle.

Of all the good-sportsmanship stories coming out of the Olympics, this sure wasn't one of them.

https://www.newsweek.com/olympic-marathon-runner-knocking-over-water-bottles-1617295

 

[sam_gordon]

Let's see, there are two rows of water bottles, he took out one (so there were still waters on the table).
According to the article, there was another table full of water just down (supposedly within 10 seconds).

I lean toward "deliberate", but can easily be swayed to "accidental".

 

[RedAngie]

“Let’s wait until all the evidence comes out before we tar and feather someone.”

 

[wvjules]

It appears deliberate. What poor sportsmanship.

 

[Mysterian]

And for all that, he finished in 17th place. Tu as perdu la course, monsieur douche!

 

[Cadiewampus]

It appears deliberate. What poor sportsmanship.

I agree. In looking at the video he clearly makes no effort to close his hand until he gets to the last bottle.

 

[leahgoogle]

Totally looks intentional to me. Well, it didn't seem to help him or hurt his competition.

 

[MrsPete]

“Let’s wait until all the evidence comes out before we tar and feather someone.”

Nah, he's on tape, and it certainly looks intentional. And to leave exactly ONE bottle for himself? It's awful sportsmanship, and I hope he is villanized within his sport.

My husband told me of another incident that happened -- now that I write it, I'm not 100% sure he meant it happened in the current Olympics: a spectator was holding a sign for his favorite biker. As the group rode past (and you know how they ride impossibly close together -- I don't understand HOW they can do it), he accidentally clipped one of the bikers with the sign, and a whole clump of bikers wiped out. Apparently the guy didn't mean to do it, but he had a very negative effect on the bike race.

Edit: I just looked it up, and the bike thing is Tour de France. Wow, the video is scary -- I mean the number of riders who fell, and it's very clear that the guy who fell first was in serious danger of having his head run over. Poor guy must've been terrified. A bike flies out into the crowd. The guys -- and these are professionals! -- are kinda dazed and are rather slow to gather their bikes and start out again. Wow, I'd hate to be the person who had that sign.

Watch the video:

 

[SirDuff]

Nah, he's on tape, and it certainly looks intentional. And to leave exactly ONE bottle for himself? It's awful sportsmanship, and I hope he is villanized within his sport.

My husband told me of another incident that happened -- now that I write it, I'm not 100% sure he meant it happened in the current Olympics: a spectator was holding a sign for his favorite biker. As the group rode past (and you know how they ride impossibly close together -- I don't understand HOW they can do it), he accidentally clipped one of the bikers with the sign, and a whole clump of bikers wiped out. Apparently the guy didn't mean to do it, but he had a very negative effect on the bike race.

Happened at the Tour de France year. Though it was a woman and sign said "Hi Grandma and Grandpa" (may not be exact (and it was in German), but it was for the spectators grandma and grandpa). The government actually said that they were looking to charge her, but didn't in the end.

 

[anniemae]

It certainly looked deliberate, but only he knows for sure. What a jerk if it was.

 

[fly girl]

Looked deliberate to me. Glad he did not medal.

 

[John VN]

Wondering if anyone replying has actually competed in a HOT MARATHON?

Having competed in marathon and Ironman events, I have NO DOUBT'S THAT IT WAS DELIBERATE --- PERIOD!!!!

 

[Karin1984]

The bottles are kept in cold water before being put on the table. The runner said the bottles were slippery and that it was an accident.

They probably were slippery, but none of the other runners seem to have that problem.

 

[sam_gordon]

The bottles are kept in cold water before being put on the table. The runner said the bottles were slippery and that it was an accident.

They probably were slippery, but none of the other runners seem to have that problem.

But it didn't prevent anyone from getting water, from that table or the one that was supposedly 10' away. If it was intentional, it was pretty stupid.

 

[ashley0139]

I watched a slowed down and zoomed in version and it honestly did look accidental. He kept trying to grab one and kept missing. Obviously I don’t 100% know this guy’s intention, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here. Always assume stupidity (or in this case overheating and fatigue) before maliciousness.

 

[MrsPete]

The bottles are kept in cold water before being put on the table. The runner said the bottles were slippery and that it was an accident.

They probably were slippery, but none of the other runners seem to have that problem.

Yeah, well, if you'd pulled the jerkiest move of the whole Olympics, wouldn't you try to justify yourself somehow too?

I watched a slowed down and zoomed in version and it honestly did look accidental. He kept trying to grab one and kept missing. Obviously I don’t 100% know this guy’s intention, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here. Always assume stupidity (or in this case overheating and fatigue) before maliciousness.

He's not a toddler. He has lots of experience picking up bottles.

 

[JimMIA]

No question that it was intentional. Even runners who run only local 10K's can pick up water.

The other runners got water, but the bigger problem might have been someone tripping or twisting an ankle on one of the water bottles, which could have caused serious injury. I actually did that in my only marathon at about the 3 mile mark. I severely twisted my ankle trying to avoid stepping on a water bottle someone had discarded. I kept running, and fortunately by the 5 mile point it was fine. I was able to finish the race without any impact -- but it could have been very different.

It would be terrible to have someone get knocked out of the Olympics by such a fool stunt.

He's not only a poor sport, he's malicious and dangerous to have in a race. He should be severely sanctioned, including a DQ for the Olympic race as an absolute minimum.

 

[JimMIA]

The bottles are kept in cold water before being put on the table. The runner said the bottles were slippery and that it was an accident.

He's lying. Anybody who's ever run any race can tell you.

 

[neverlandsky]

Honestly, the water shouldn't of been on the table to begin with and handled off on the sidelines. The stories coming out of this Olympics has been nothing but a hot mess.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Wondering if anyone replying has actually competed in a HOT MARATHON?

Having competed in marathon and Ironman events, I have NO DOUBT'S THAT IT WAS DELIBERATE --- PERIOD!!!!

I have run in many marathons, hot and cold. I have no doubt that it was an accident. Runners are not like this. We are a very tight community, and doing something like this on purpose would follow him forever.

He did not negatively impact anyone in the race. This is much ado about nothing.