A French athlete has run naked through the centre of Paris in the hope of landing a new sponsorship deal.

Romain Mesnil - who won a silver medal at the 2007 Athletics World Championships - is currently without a sponsor, after Nike last year decided not to renew their contract.

But he now hopes that a video he has posted on YouTube, where he is seen running through Montmartre and across a bridge over the River Seine, will attract enough attention to land him a new deal.

Mesnil promises that he will wear clothing baring the logos of any sponsors, rather than having them tattooed on the bare cheeks of his arse.