PlayA French pole vault champion has posted a video on the web of him running naked through the streets of the French capital in a bid to draw attention to his plight.
Romain Mesnil, who won a silver medal at the 2007 Athletics World Championships in Osaka, used to be sponsored by US sports brand Nike but his contract expired in the autumn and was not renewed. He hopes the video will help him find a new sponsor.
In his video, Mesnil is seen running naked, with his pole, as if preparing for a vault, through various tourist spots in Paris, like the Montmartre and the Pont des Arts bridge over the River Seine by the Louvre museum.
Mesnil said: "I was very concentrated on what I was doing. It was funny. There were tourists who were looking at me taking pictures, but I was really into it, a bit like when you're about to jump with a pole, you don't ask yourself any questions, you're really concentrated."
In scenes where he is seen from the front, a small black square covers his private parts.
Mesnil speculated that it was probably the financial crisis that forced his sponsorship to be cut.
In a show of solidarity towards his fellow athletes, he said: "I consider myself as privileged, my club employs me and gives me a salary, I've been living out of my discipline for the past ten years but you should know that in the athletics world, many finalists at world championships or at the Olympics find it difficult at the end of the month and they are forced to get a job."
His sponsorship, put on auction website Ebay, reached over 16,000 euros (£14,800) with just under ten days left before the auction expires.
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