Hugues Fabrice Zango from Burkina Faso made history on Thursday as he claimed the first Olympic medal of his own country for a male triple jump. The 28-year-old, who also won bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, jumped 17.47 meters to claim third spot on the podium.
Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo won a 17.98 meter jump for his first Olympic title, and China’s Zhu Yaming won silver at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium with 17.57 meters. On the same day as the 61st year of independence of his country, Zango’s historic victory came.
On Twitter, President Roc Marc Kabore described his win as a ‘national pride’. Zango’s first Olympic outing was at the Rio Games five years ago. He had to juggle his busy school schedule to train for the Tokyo Olympics in southwest France, where he’s an engineering university student.
Data Source: Africa News