Australian middle-distance runner Morgan McDonald makes gut-wrenching admission after bizarre Paris scenes

Australian middle-distance runner Morgan McDonald has made a gut-wrenching admission after failing to progress to the 5000m final in Paris.

McDonald — who was runner-up in the recent national champs — had been placed nicely throughout the Olympic heat, latched onto the back of the leading pack of the star-studded field.

It was a chaotic day of racing and there were bizarre scenes in McDonald’s event when a rogue camera operator wandered onto the track as the runners were approaching.

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While that moment shocked everyone, the cameraman — who was seemingly focused on the women’s javelin on the infield — managed to avoid disaster and total embarrassment as he dodged while the runners swerved.

Like the first heat that featured Australia’s Stewart McSweyn, it was a slow moving race … that was until Norway’s track superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen decided to pick up the tempo.

And similarly to that first heat, there were more crashes, one just ahead of McDonald in the run home.

The crash left a hole for McDonald to slip through with 150m to go.

He bolted for the line and thought he had qualified …. in fact, he was convinced he was in the top handful.