British athlete George Mills shoved Hugo Hay of France in angry scenes after falling in the first men's 5,000m heat on Wednesday.
Mills, who is the son of former England defender Danny Mills, ended up walking over the line and immediately sought after the French runner.
He was seen marching over to Hay, pointing his finger before shoving his rival in the chest.
Hay tried to put an arm round an incensed Mills to try and diffuse the situation.
George Mills was furious after the race
BBC
But Mills could be seen telling Hay to 'get off me' as he stormed away in anger.
He crossed the line in 18th and is now reliant on the officials reinstating him to keep his Olympics hopes alive.
However, former British Olympian Paula Radcliffe feels Mills can't have any excuses in what ended up being a slow race.
"There's a lot to look back at, I lot to tidy up and decide whose fault it was," she said on BBC.
"If you decide to jog that slightly, it's kind of your own fault. You end up with all of those falls."
Replays of the incident appeared to show Mills and Hay colliding as they came round the bend, which knocked the British athlete into the other athletes to his right.
Mike Foppen, Thierry Ndikumwenayo and Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu ended up taking a tumble as a result of the collision.
Mills was still furious after the race when speaking to Eurosport and continued his tirade towards Hay as the Frenchman walked past him.
George Mills stormed over to confront Hugo Hay
BBC
"This guy took me out," he said with a grimace.
"He stepped out and took me out."
When asked whether Team GB were going to put make an appeal, he replied: "I hope so.
George Mills fell with less than 100m to go
BBC
"It's out of my control. Being in France and with it being a French guy taking me out, I can't see much happening.
"The race turned into a sprint finish, which me stepping up to the 5,000m suits me a lot.
"I dodged one fall coming into the bell and I just got taken out and went down like 80m out.
"I don't know how it looks but I knew I was boxed in so I thought lets be patient and wait until the home straight, gaps will open up and then hit the deck."