While you were sleeping, there was quite a commotion during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
During the second heat of the men’s 5000 meters qualifying round on Wednesday, August 7, a cameraman carried his film equipment as he casually walked up to the athletes.
As the runners rounded the bend on the track, the cameraman came closer – until he stopped in place and realized his mistake. In images of the race: Norwegian runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen swerved behind the cameraman only to miss his path.
The accident quickly went viral on social media. “The cameraman just finished the 5000m race, what hell,” one user wrote via X on Wednesday next to footage of the match, while another added“WHAT ON EARTH?!?!? Cameraman is standing in the middle of the 5000 meters on the track. Jakob Ingebrigtsen has to go wide to avoid him.”
the cameraman just ran through the 5000 meter race, what hell 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/q91U43kyFA
— Lauren🪿 (@speaklaur) August 7, 2024
During the final stretch of the race, American runner Abdihamid Nur fell and finished last.
After the race ended, Ingebrigtsen called the incident “amateurish.” (Ingebrigtsen finished first in the heat, with Ethiopia’s Biniam Mehary and that of Belgium Isaac Kimeli rounds out the top three.)
“That shouldn’t happen at an Olympic Games,” he said Daily email. “I was just far enough in front to see that something was going on. He has quite a large camera setup. He realized it pretty quickly, but the damage has already been done. For some, their race has been ruined.”
The accident with the cameraman was not the only incident that raised eyebrows on Wednesday. During the first heat of the race, a huge crash by a runner caused a four-man pile-up.
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris have provided several perfect moments since they started on July 26. Perhaps the most viral photo came during the third round of the men’s surfing competition on July 29. After completing a barrel ride in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, Brazil surfer Gabriel Medina floated in the air and pointed his finger at the […]
After the race, Great Britain George Mills pointed his finger at France’s Hugo Hay sight.
“I think it’s pretty clear. I got stepped out as I was about to kick into the straight and boom, the French guy took me down,” Mills shared BBCaccording to The guard. “From my perspective, that was the perfect qualifying for me, completing the first 2 kilometers in six minutes. I was like, ‘No one in this field can run away from me at this pace,’ so I just sat and waited, bided my time, went straight to kicking the house off and then popping it and hitting the deck. What can you do?”
When asked about his interaction with Hay, Mills said, “I’m probably not allowed to say that.”
While Mills finished 18th in the race, the referee sent him and the three others involved in the crash to the final. Hay automatically advanced because he finished seventh in the race.