History is made as Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango claimed his country’s first ever Olympic medal in the men’s 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.
Pedro Pichardo of Portugal won gold with a jump of 17.98 meters to claim his first Olympic title, while China’s Zhu Yaming took silver at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium with 17.57.
Zango won his bronze medal, the first for the West African nation since it began participating in the Olympics in 1972, on Burkina Faso’s Independence Day.
Burkina Faso’s President, Roch Marc Kabore took to Twitter to congratulate the athlete and described his win as a ‘national pride’.
Zango said he had hoped to do better than bronze but said he was proud to win his country’s first Olympic medal.
