Mills rages at French rival after being brought down in Olympics 5000m

By James Toney in Paris

George Mills went from raging to relieved after hitting the deck in his 5000m heat.

The son of former England football international Danny was winding up for a sprint finish when he tangled with France’s Hugo Hay in a dramatic pile-up that left four athletes sprawled on the track.

Mills angrily clashed with Hay at the finish, jabbing his finger in his face as the home crowd made their feelings known.

However, he was later advanced to the final by the track referee, who ruled the recent European silver medallist was not at fault.

"He took me down, he stepped right in front of me and took me out," said Mills, the race and fiery reaction live on Discovery+.

"I'm pleased to be through, being in France and a French guy taking me out, I didn't see much happening.

"The race really suited me, coming down to a sprint finish, I was patient and waited for it to open up down the straight.

"If we look at the top pace of the race, it was playing into a 1500m guys hands, so that was my plan. Get around the whole race, sit in and don’t waste any energy, get into the last 100m, doesn’t matter if you are 10th or 12th, you will be able to come past.

"We executed that to the point but it got taken out of my control unfortunately."

Ben Pattison is keeping a well-trained eye on the opposition as he started his 800m campaign at the Stade de France.

Last year Pattison arrived in Budapest ranked 16th in the world, only to win world bronze, the first British man to claim a global medal over two laps since Peter Elliott in 1987.

It means he is no longer able to fly under the radar, ranked fifth in the world this season after a 1:42.27 personal best at the Diamond League in Monaco.

"I know the numbers going into championships aren’t the numbers coming out of championships, so I can’t go into the heats thinking I can win this easily," he said, after winning his heat to join team-mates Max Burgin and Elliott Giles in the next round.

"Every step of the way I need to be diligent and almost treat every round like the final. In the men’s 800m run, anyone can beat anyone.

"I need to just stay on my toes. I feel like I proved that last year, to be wary of people like me last year, probably coming in a bit under the radar in good shape."

Last year Pattison revealed he'd undergone life-saving surgery in 2021, after his heart rate had skyrocketed to 250 beats per minute.

"My coach will probably say otherwise, and it probably looked otherwise, but I felt confident I would win the race the whole time," he added.

"I had a bit of work to do around the top bend, to get into a position where I could kick, but I felt good and I just had to back myself and trust my training."

Meanwhile, Giles admitted his head was spinning after a whirlwind week to saw him go from on altitude training in Switzerland to making the Olympic semi-finals.

The former European 800m silver medallist was left raging after tangling with rivals in the Olympic trials in Manchester, meaning he missed his shot for a spot on the plane.

However, an injury to former world 1500m champion Jake Wightman meant he received a late call-up for his third Olympic appearance.

"Five days ago, I was still in a camp in the Swiss mountains," said the Birchfield Harrier, who made the semi-finals three years ago in Tokyo,

"Now I’m at the Olympics, competing on the biggest stage, after having five weeks of thinking I’m not going. It’s wild.

"I was in my tent in the Swiss Alps when I got the call, it was like being handed an ace.

"I stayed ready and that's a big lesson to everyone, even if the chance of achieving your dream is one percent, it's still a chance.

"I didn’t really think there was any opportunity of me going, but I just said to myself, ‘I’m an athlete first, I’m not going to go out and party with my friends. Not going to go out and drink or do things that are easy to do when you don’t make the team.’ I stayed professional.

"I’m like a well-seasoned chicken, I know what I’m doing out there now. Might not be the fittest or the strongest but I know what to do."

Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics.