George Mills' three-word foul-mouthed insult to French rival after being tripped at Paris Olympics

George Mills has been embroiled in an on-track controversy with French athlete Hugo Hay after their 5,000m heat at the Paris Olympics, where he allegedly called Hay a "you ------- clown", as per reports.

During the critical final moments of the race , when positions were everything for qualifying to the final, Mills was part of a commotion that resulted in him and three other athletes tumbling down . Post-incident, the Brit gave Hay an earful about what had transpired.

After the turmoil cooled down, British hopeful Mills saw his fortunes change, as officials decided to let him and the other fallen runners, Spain's Thierry Ndikumwenayo, Mike Foppen of the Netherlands, and refugee runner Dominic Lobalu advance to the final round.

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Also making it to the final after an appeal was France's Yann Schrub from the second heat, which means an unusually high number of 21 competitors in the finale planned for Saturday.

It was through lip-reader Jeremy Freeman that The Mail claimed to have identified the fiery exchange between Mills, whose father is former England footballer Danny Mills, and Hay amidst hostility. Hay seemed to contest any accusations of foul play during his back-and-forth with Mills.

Commenting on the incident to Eurosport, Mills expressed his frustration: "This lad came and took me out, he stepped out and took me out," and reflected on how he narrowly avoided an earlier collision only to be thwarted later.

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He continued to recount his tactical thoughts leading up to the fall: "I don't know how it looked. I knew I was boxed in, so I thought let's be patient until the home straight, gaps will open up and then hit the deck, so what can you do now?."

Hay later maintained he was blameless during a chat with the broadcaster, saying: "At the end, there was a big pile-up. The Englishman came to tell me it was my fault, so I went to look at the slow-motion replay," he said, "As far as I'm concerned, it was someone who pushed me and I just put my elbow in. I hope nothing happens because I didn't really feel like I was pushing anyone. I turned round and there was no-one there."

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A new champion is set to emerge in this event since Joshua Cheptegei, the current titleholder, won't compete. The Ugandan has decided to concentrate on the 10,000m, where he secured gold in spectacular Olympic record fashion.

Mo Ahmed, runner-up in Tokyo, failed to make the cut for the final after falling in his semi, but Oscar Chelimo, who clinched bronze in Japan, is through. Jakob Ingebrigtsen also has a shot to compensate for his setback in the 1,500m final, having moved ahead in the heats for the longer distance.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Tokyos's 1,500m gold medalist, couldn't manage more than fourth in his event as Cole Hocker took an unexpected first place. However, Ingebrigtsen's already a double world champ in the 5,000m and could possibly crown himself Olympic champion in Paris.

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