Mahiedine Mekhissi stripped of gold after stripping off shirt

Zurich: France`s Mahiedine Mekhissi was stripped of his gold medal and disqualified from the European athletics championships on Thursday after peeling off his shirt before he crossed the line in first place.

His compatriot Yoann Kowal was promoted to the gold medal position instead although the French delegation can lodge an appeal over Mekhissi`s exclusion.

The Spanish team had made the original protest over Mekhissi after a race in which their athlete Angel Mullera had finished fourth.