Running News Daily

Cameraman walks into 5,000m racers on the track at Paris Olympics

On Wednesday morning, an unexpected participant made an appearance in the second of two first-round heats of the men’s 5,000m. Two thirds of the way through the race, while filming the women’s javelin event, a cameraman equipped with a large camera rig strolled right through the second lane of the track, stopping just short of lane one. He seemed completely oblivious to the 20 men running straight toward him. Two runners, including Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, had to run around him to avoid a collision. Even the men on the inside of lane one could barely squeeze by him.

Ingebrigtsen was unimpressed, appearing to make angry hand gestures after dodging the cameraman. The last thing he needed after missing the 1,500m podium on Tuesday night was a mid-race collision in his 5,000m race. “It’s amateurish,’ Ingebrigtsen told the media. ‘That should not happen in an Olympics.” Luckily, the Norwegian had been playing it safe by hanging on to the back of the pack, giving him enough time to steer clear.

This isn’t the first time an incident like this has occurred at a major championships. At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Ore., another rogue cameraman got a unique shot during the men’s 3,000m steeplechase–filming from lane two of the straightaway. His back was to the racers; luckily, runners were able to successfully swerve around him, averting a crash.

The incident is characteristic of a chaotic seventh day of athletics in Paris so far. The first heat saw a major collision that took down six athletes, leaving several medal contenders out of the 5,000m final taking place on Saturday, Aug. 10.