Hugues Fabrice Zango's stellar year: Burkina Faso's first world champion completing electrical engineering Ph.D.

Hugues Fabrice Zango is a humble man. Looking at him, it would be hard to tell that he was not only an athletics world champion, but is also on the verge of earning his Doctor of Philosophy degree in electrical engineering.

Yes, in the space of just two months, the Burkinabé will not only have been crowned world champ in men's triple jump, but also won the right to add "Ph.D." to his long list of achievements.

Zango's 17.64m jump in Budapest, Hungary, at the World Athletics Championships 2023, put him ahead of the Cubans Lázaro Martínez and Cristian Nápoles. And while that success was something to celebrate, it is the other accomplishment awaiting Zango that really gives him pride.

"I set myself difficult challenges to force my mind to always look for solutions," he explains in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com the day after winning his world title. A true competitor, both inside and away from the stadium. First in class, and now first in the triple jump world for the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist.

Hugues Fabrice Zango on doing his PhD: "I wanted to go deeper"

The Ouagadougou native is no stranger to hard work. He is adament that he is not the most talented, but has always strived to be the best – in sport and in studies.

Indeed, those qualities necessary for his choice of academic career have enhanced his determination in sport, too, allowing him to reach new highs previously unattained by any African before him in his event.

"I'm always searching; I want to understand the essence of things," he says.

"I did the doctorate because while it's fine to have an engineering degree, I wanted to go deeper. It is this essence of things that stimulates me, and in triple jump it was the same.

"Since the start, I've tried to understand visually by seeing, trying to understand what the best are doing. I tried to understand lots of things. That's how, even while I was in Burkina Faso, I managed to progress to the very highest level. This ability to analyse helped me a lot."

Notably, Zango has achieved this success while remaining a part-time athlete. He credits the Olympic Solidariity Programme with helping him.

"It wouldn't have been possible without the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship. It was the X factor in my career," he emphasises. The scholarship allowed him to pursue his training at a higher level.

"I was training with a coach in my club at that time," he remembers. "I reached 17.00m, but it wasn’t enough to be a medal contender.

"With the help of the scholarship, I had more resources to contract a more qualified coach like Teddy (Tamgho). I was able to put in place a system which helped me train with him and do more competitions."

Fabrice Zango's world title: For Burkina Faso and a laboratory in France

Zango's method of working, logically and methodically, allows him to train efficiently with Tamgho, his coach, who himself won the world title a decade ago.

Both Zango and Tamgho are detail-oriented and pay close attention to the smallest thnigs – something which for Zango has been honed by his daily laboratory work as part of his studies.

"I understand the logic of instructions, and it's easier to accept them," he says.

This approach led Zango to the world title, the first athlete from his country to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships. While the population of Burkina Faso celebrated its new 30-year-old hero, there was also emotion to be found in northern France.

"My thesis director left me a message, saying he cried in front of his television," Zango, who studies at the University of Artois, shares.

He won't be studying much longer. In October, the Burkinabé will defend his thesis, entitled Machine électrique performante à rotor externe et convertisseur intégré pour application en environnement sévère ("High-performance electric machine with external rotor and integrated converter for application in harsh environments"). That will be his second big success of 2023 – and surely not the last of his career.

With his studies complete, Zango will be able to turn his attention full-time on sport.

And next year, France could be the scene of another great success for the Burkina Faso athlete, as Paris 2024 awaits.