As the runners entered the final stage of the race, Mills and Hay clashed, with the Great British runner being brought down.

As a result - three other runners fell in the melee. It left Mills finishing in 18th place.

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After crossing the finish line around 30 seconds after the leader - Mills confronted Hay, with the pair exchanging harsh words.

Narve Gilje Nordas of Norway won the heat, while Hay placed seventh.

It looked to have ended Mills's hopes of automatically qualifying for the final as he did not finish in the top eight.

However, British Athletics (BA) announced later on social media that Mills would take part in the final.

The race referee advanced Mills and three other athletes - Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu of the Refugee Olympic team, Mike Foppen of the Netherlands and Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain - as a result of the collision.

Speaking to the BBC following the collision, Mills said, "I think it's pretty clear" what happened, adding: "I got stepped out on."

"I was about to kick into the straight and boom - the French lad took me down," he claimed.

The 25-year-old son of former Leeds and England footballer Danny Mills, added: "I haven't seen [any official] but I'm pretty sure BA will be on it to put an appeal in, I hope.

"From my perspective that was the perfect qualifier for me, going through the 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?"

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Former Olympic silver medallist Steve Cram, commentating on the heat for the BBC, said Mills had got himself into a "bad position from a long way out, he should have checked out much earlier".

He added: "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."

Mills will run in the 5,000m final on Saturday at 6.50pm.