Winner of the World Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the triple jump, Hugues Fabrice Zango is now focusing on the Paris 2024 Olympics. And the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist intends to bring a second Olympic medal to the land of men of integrity.
Hugues Fabrice Zango on top of the world.Burkina Faso struck gold in the triple jump at the World Indoor Athletics Championships just one year after its outdoor title. And the Burkinabe is ecstatic to win his second world title.
"It's really satisfying to be able to take responsibility, because it's never easy. Even if you have a certain amount of self-confidence when you approach a championship, there are still a few factors that can change, and which can play into the result.Frankly, I'm happy to be able to put in a performance good enough to win with 17m53. What's more, it's a respectable performance, which means you're always on the world podium, so it's really good. I'm still competitive (smile). And today, if someone had jumped 17m60, I'd have jumped 17m61, that's all, we know that (smile). It depends on the competition: depending on how it looks, I adapt, I do what's needed and frankly I'm happy!" exclaimed Zango in an interview with TV5 Monde.
The triple jump final was hotly contested. Zango was hot on the heels of Algeria's Yasser Triki, who finally settled for bronze."You saw, on my first attempt, I did 16m69, because nobody had jumped, I was really out of it, I didn't know what I was doing... And then Triki jumped 17m35, and I responded with 17m33! That's it: I'm someone who reacts to stimuli like that. If you jump 18m right away, that'll put me at 18m! That's how I adapt to different competitions, because I know I'm capable of doing good things.And when I did 17m33, with the mistakes I'd made on my jump, I knew I was bound to go ahead. I just had to keep my head on my shoulders," confides Burkina Faso's first Olympic medallist.
Zango now focuses on the Olympics
Hugues Fabrice Zango could even have given up in the fourth attempt of the final.He suffered a cramp but he gave his all to win the gold medal. He says: "Absolutely!Yes, I had a cramp in my left calf on the fourth attempt, but I couldn't leave it at that - it wasn't possible at all. So I told my coach that I had to go out in front to make sure.Because if the cramp gets any worse, the sixth try could be even more difficult. I'm competitive until the sixth try, but by the fifth I'd really visualized my jump. I put all the elements together from the start of the competition, and I absolutely knew I could go ahead, and that's what I did."
World indoor and outdoor champion and bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, Fabrice Zango is dreaming of another Olympic medal in Paris. "Ah, the Paris Games!Now I can look ahead... I've just ticked the last box I was missing! The next box is the Games. Well, I'm going to enjoy myself a bit tonight... But from tomorrow, we'll be preparing for Paris, and we've got a straight line from now on!" he concludes.
