News

French polevaulter's bare cheek pays off

April 15, 2009 Edition 1

Paris: French polevaulter Romain Mesnil's unusual stunt to attract sponsorship - he ran through the streets of Paris naked - has paid dividends.

The silver medallist at the 2007 Athletics World Championships recently had his sportswear sponsor scale down his contract due to the global financial crisis.

So the burly 31-year-old posted a video of himself running nude through the French capital on the Youtube website last month in a 46-second clip which has been viewed more than one million times.

And on Tuesday, he announced that his unabashed cheek had been fully worth the effort with a new sponsorship deal worth e16 100 (R193 136) with a French accommodation-finding website.

In a slightly less controversial approach, he had also made an attempt to get sponsors via the French version of the eBay online auction website which secured a e7 500 (R89 970) contribution from an anonymous donor.

Mesnil, who is giving that last donation to charity, said running naked was now behind him. - Sapa-AFP

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