A Ph.D. in amazing: Burkina Faso’s first-ever Olympic medallist, Hugues Fabrice Zango
What is the most amazing thing about the amazing Hugues Fabrice Zango?
- He is the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist in men’s triple jump and, as well, the world indoor record holder, 18.07 metres
- That Olympic medal was the first ever for the western African nation of Burkina Faso, the continent’s 29th-largest nation with its 19th-largest population.
- In early 2023, Zango is due to earn his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Université de Reims, in France, where he has been based for the last few years.
- He works on his doctoral degree Monday to Thursday at the university, in northern France. Triple jump training is from Friday to Sunday in Paris. So he has become Olympic medallist as something of a ... part-time job.
- All of the above
Look out, Paris 2024, when Zango will have 18 months of training — full-time — at the triple jump. What’s possible? “Because of my Ph.D., I’m tired all the time,” he said. “It’s crazy. I am sure 100 percent I will improve.”
Now you start to see what makes Zango so special, why he was clearly deserving of an ANOCA scholarship toward Tokyo — one he said was a difference-maker, that enabled him, for instance, to make those weekend trips to see his current coach, renowned triple jumper Teddy Tamgho. When Zango went 18.07 at a meet in January 2021 in Aubière, France, whose record did he break? Tamgho’s, 17.92, from 2011.
Growing up in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, Zango said, “I lived my life just like everyone. But I was maybe more ambitious. I wanted to be noticed for something. I wanted to do something big and good for my country. “Sports? Not my priority. My first priority was my studies.” Thus has it ever been.
Doing something good and big for his country? The Olympic bronze in Tokyo: he won it on August 5, 2021. August 5 is Burkina Faso’s national day.
In Tokyo, Zango said, “My personal dream had become the dream being shared by 22 million people, 22 million citizens of Burkina Faso …. I was carrying the hopes of so many people.”
Meanwhile, there was, there is still, lab work to be done. His thesis title: “high-performance electric machine with external rotator and integrated converter for application in harsh environments.”
The world record in the triple jump: 18.29 metres. Britain's Jonathan Edwards has held that mark since the 1995 World Championships.
In Paris, Zango figures to jump before what will essentially be akin to a home crowd. That indoor 18.07? Because of COVID, the lab was closed; Zango was told he could work from home; given that OK, he moved to Paris for two months to work with Tamgho. “This,” he said, “gave me the power.”
Imagine, just imagine, what 18 such months might produce. “It all has been working well,” Zango said of what has been. And what might be? He smiled. “For sure we can do better.”