George Mills was involved in a heated altercation with France’s Hugo Hay after the Briton had a collision in his 5000m heat at the Stade de France.
Hay remained upright after multiple men, including Mills, tumbled down on the final lap.
After the men had crossed the finish line, Mills and Hay were seen arguing and making physical contact, Mills pointing furiously at the Frenchman.
Mills claimed Hay was responsible for the incident and officials agreed the Briton had been disadvantaged, advancing him to Saturday’s final following a review by the video referee.
Mills told the BBC: “I think it’s pretty clear. I got stepped out on as I was about to kick in the home straight and boom, the French lad took me down.”
Asked what he said when he confronted Hay: “I’m probably not allowed to say.”
He added: “From my perspective that was the perfect qualifier for me, going through first 2k in six minutes. I was like, ‘Nobody in this field can run away from me at this pace’, so I was just sitting, waiting, biding my time, gonna kick off the home straight then bang, hit the deck. What can you do?”
Mills, 25, is the son of former Leeds and England full-back Danny.
Great Britain’s Patrick Dever and George Mills during the men’s 5000m heats at the Stade de France
Former Olympic silver medallist Steve Cram, commentating on the race for the BBC, said Mills had got himself into a “bad position”.
“George was in a bad position from a long way out, he should have checked out much earlier,” said Cram, speaking before Mills was advanced to the final.
“George, from what I can see there, did do a big push there in the home straight and it will be really interesting to see what they (race officials) decide.
“There’s lots of experienced men in there and yes, everyone thinks they can kick, but when you get to that situation [very slow pace] the chances of people going down are increased incredibly.”
Hay told Discovery+: “There was a big collision. It’s not me. Somebody pushed me. Something happened, I turned around and everyone was on the floor so I hope it’s not me. I feel really good.”
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