The men’s 5,000m heats at the Olympics have become the center of controversy. In the first heat, five athletes fell during the final stretch, and tensions rose between George Mills of Team GB and Hugo Hay of France.
Mills accused Hay of infringing on his space, leading to a heated confrontation. Things took another unexpected turn in the second heat when a clueless cameraman wandered onto the track, directly in the path of angry runners.
It seems like the preliminary rounds of the race are not only intense for the Olympians but also quite entertaining for us spectators. It almost feels like watching a soap opera unfold. Let’s delve into the details.
George Mills, the son of former Manchester City soccer player Danny Mills, explained his side of the story in a post-race interview with the BBC. According to Mills, he was stepped on by Hay just as he was about to make his final kick in the home straight, resulting in a fall. When asked what he said to Hay afterwards, Mills slyly responded, “I’m probably not allowed to say, but yeah, I…yeah.”
The Olympic Committee agreed that Mills had been unfairly affected and reinstated him into the finals of the men’s 5,000m race. This decision sets the stage for an exciting final showdown.
However, the drama didn’t end with the athletes. Just four laps before the finish line, a cameraman carelessly crossed the track, nearly causing a major collision with all 19 racers. One would expect a camera operator covering such a significant event like the Olympics to be aware of when races are happening and when it’s safe to cross the track. Thankfully, the cameraman realized his mistake in the nick of time and stopped in his tracks.
Nevertheless, several runners expressed their anger towards the cameraman as they raced past him, including Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the favorite to win the gold medal in the event. Ingebrigtsen managed to secure first place in his heat, with Ethiopia’s Biniam Mehary and Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli finishing second and third, respectively.
“It’s amateurish,” Ingebrigtsen exclaimed after the race. “Such incidents should not occur at the Olympics. I was in the lead and could see that something was happening. He had quite a massive camera rig. Although he realized his mistake quickly, the damage was done. For some, their race was ruined.”
The men’s 5,000m final is surely going to be an intense and captivating event. Make sure to catch it on Saturday at 1:50 PM ET.
