Burkina Faso: Hughes Fabrice Zango is shaping the champions of tomorrow
Hughes Fabrice Zango is shaping the champions of tomorrow in Burkina Faso, the Land of Upright People, through his MSC club.
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Hugues Fabrice Zango: "They want to be like me..."
The Maison Sport club, which now has three training sites, wants to nurture the next generation of athletics talent in Burkina Faso. To get there, it is stacking up sessions, and its members are benefiting from the valuable advice of their technical director, Hugues Fabrice Zango, world champion in 2023, world indoor champion in 2024 and a double African champion in 2018 and 2022. "For 3 months, they have been training with their coach. When I come back to the country, I speak to them. They are at MS Club and want to be like me. So I talk with them to break down the barrier and give them advice. They are receptive, and their coach talks to them all the time. That is why I wanted to give them even more motivation," said Hugues Fabrice Zango.
At the Karpala site, the thirty or so young trainees hang on every word and gesture of the global icon of athletics. In just a few hours of discussion, the youngsters picked up several lessons and left fired up. "It's easier with Zango. As he is a champion, he has every method to take us to his level or beyond," said Wassila Sawadogo. For Chaïde Koussé, another MS Club member: "It was accessible and he set a challenge that I achieved. I hope to improve further so I can compete one day at the Olympic Games," he concluded.
The first professional athletics club in Burkina Faso, Maison Sport Club was set up barely 3 months ago. The results are already tangible, to the delight of its technical director: "Honestly, with just three training sessions a week, we are seeing improvements of almost 1 metre, 1.5 metres for some. Speed work has improved markedly. The various competitions have really given us satisfaction," said Hugues Fabrice Zango.
Maison Sport Club (MSC) wants to give young Burkinabè athletes the chance to embark on a professional career in athletics. Led by triple jump specialist Hugues Fabrice Zango