You know times are tough in the world of professional sports when athletes have to use extreme measures to attract sponsors.
Meet French Pole-vaulting champion Romain Mesnil.
Until his contract expired last year Mesnil was sponsored by Nike. But according to his web site the contract was not renewed, "probably for budgetary and strategic reasons. It's the crisis."
So desperate times call for desperate measures, and that's why Mensil ran through the street of Paris wearing nothing but his pole. Of course you can't see it in this video because it hidden by his vaulting pole.
According to the Guardian:
"The musclebound 31-year-old is seen loping through the streets with his pole as if preparing for a vault at tourist spots like Montmartre and the Pont des Arts across the river Seine. A black square has been tactfully added to the footage to cover his private parts."
And just in case you are curious, Mesnil, won a silver medal at the 2007 Athletics World Championships, in Osaka, Japan. You didn't really think we would reveal the length of his pole did you?