Alarm at Mo’s minder

THE way showbiz agency Freud Communications control publicity around Britain’s sole superstar athlete Sir Mo Farah has created controversy during the Championships.

The complaints have been about media access to Farah being strictly limited to avoid questions about his coach Alberto Salazar, who is mired in allegations about banned drugs.

Farah is the only British athlete with a publicist and Freud’s Jo Livingstone has a media pass that allows her to keep close to Farah even when he is in the mandatory interview area after a race.

Livingstone claims she is there to keep abreast of what Farah is saying rather than dictate to whom he speaks. And she says Farah’s preparations for Saturday’s 5,000m final, as well as his treatment for a worryingly swollen knee following last Friday’s 10,000m, has restricted his availability for interviews.

Farah is not thought to pay Freud very much for their publicity work but the deal is linked to a wide-ranging agreement with Nike.

THE streaker who ran down the London Stadium track shortly before the start of the 100m final has escaped prosecution because there is no law surrounding athletics — as there is in football — for pitch invaders. But the serial streaker, who was covered in grease to make him harder to catch, did have two-and-a-half hours locked in the stadium contemplating his fate.