The Olympic 5,000 meter races certainly did not take place quietly. In the first, four competitors fell after a mass collision. The incident had its finale after the finish line, when there was almost a fight and the referees additionally sent everyone to the finals.
Photo: Profimedia
Four endurance athletes found themselves in a mass fall of the 5,000-meter run.
In the second run, an inattentive cameraman, who was leading across the track when he had nothing to look for, got under the runners’ feet.
Saturday’s 5,000 meter final was supposed to have 16 competitors. However, 20 of them will run in the end. This is due to the curious situation from the finish line of the first run. Dominic Lubalu, George Mills, Mike Foppen and Thierry Ndikumwenayo unfortunately fell, losing the chance to fight for the top eight.
The whole situation really upset the Englishman Mills, who accused the Frenchman Hugo Haye of pushing him and falling to the ground because of it.
After crossing the finish line, the two runners did not exactly exchange nice words and there was almost a physical fight. “What did I yell at him? I can’t repeat that,” the Briton told the BBC.
The French saw the whole situation differently. “I didn’t notice anything. An Englishman came to me and was very upset. I have to look at the whole thing from the record. If it was my mistake, I am of course ready to apologize. At this point, I cannot say with certainty that I am innocent.’
At that time, Mills and the other unfortunates who ended up on the ground believed that they had lost the Olympic final. But the referees put their heads together and decided that it was an innocent situation.
And so all four will participate in Saturday’s race. 20 runners will appear at the start. This is a condescending gesture from the organizers, because in other sports competitors are usually unlucky in similar situations.
But that was not all. Another incredible situation occurred in the second run. As the leading group rounded a turn, a confused cameraman, whose back was turned, was caught at their feet filming the javelin throw. He made the race quite complicated for the runners, among whom was the big favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen. In this case, it was done without crashes.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
