Disaster was narrowly avoided during a heat of the men's 5,000-meter race on Wednesday.
With four laps remaining in the second heat, a camera operator appeared to unknowingly walk right into the middle of the race, and runners had to scramble out of the way to miss a collision. It was a crazy scene that shocked everyone in attendance.
Cameraman walking through the middle of the 5000m race. Absolutely insane.
— Daniel Hussey (@DanielHussey2) August 7, 2024
pic.twitter.com/nvDSbnNIbh
It appears the camera operator was focused on the high jump competition happening nearby and lost track of where the runners were. It is incredibly lucky none of the runners fell or were injured. Several runners, including Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, were visibly upset with the camera operator.
Ingebrigtsen recovered and won the heat, qualifying for the final.
That wasn't the only incident in the heat, as Great Britain's George Mills got into it with French runner Hugo Hay after the Brit collided with Spain's Thierry Ndikumwenayo and fell on the final lap. Mills was advanced to the final after a decision from the race referee.
That's a lot of drama in one heat of a distance race.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Camera Operator Nearly Collided With Runners in Olympic 5,000-Meter Race.
