2013 Universiade, Kazan: triple jump, sixth place. 2015 Universiade, Gwangju: triple jump silver medal (16.76m). 2017 Universiade, Chinese Taipei: triple jump silver medal (16.97m PB).

Like the hop, step and jump which characterise his athletics event, the Summer Universiades of 2013, 2015 and 2017 have crucially advanced the career of Hugues Fabrice Zango – Burkina Faso's historic high-achiever.

In September 2019 in Doha this ebullient 26-year-old triple jumper became the first track and field athlete from his country to earn a medal at the World Championships as he claimed a surprise bronze in an African record of 17.66 metres.

Zango – who spends winters in France and is studying for a PhD in electrical engineering at university in Lille – produced an effort of 17.77m in Paris in February 2020, putting himself equal fourth on the world indoor all-time list and just 15 centimetres shy of the world indoor record held by his French coach, Teddy Tamgho.

Later in the month, at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Liévin, Zango tried everything he knew to provide what he regarded as his home crowd with a world indoor mark, but had to settle for four escalating jumps of 17m-plus, culminating in a fourth round of 17.51m. He then fouled out on his two final efforts – one of which looked close to or on 18m.

"Every winter I work here," he had said beforehand. "I know the stadium like my pocket. So the stadium is my home and I come here like twice a week, so here is really good."

Zango's performance in Doha – where gold went to defending and Olympic champion Christian Taylor with 17.92m and silver to his US rival Will Claye on 17.74m - was also a model of consistency. Apart from his best, he had four other leaps beyond 17m – 17.18m, 17.46m, 17.29m, and 17.56m.

"First of all, I wanted to get a medal," Zango told World Athletics. "I felt really strong. I was able to fight against the big guys. Next time it will be even better.

"I was in really good shape to do something special and I achieved my goal.

"We are all working on going further and further and working on some technical improvements.

"It means a lot to finish third behind Christian Taylor and Will Claye and beat Pedro Pablo Pichardo to win the bronze medal.

"They all jumped over 18 metres in their careers. For Burkina Faso it is really a big thing. Finally we entered into world athletics, because we have never had a medal on the world level.

"I am the first and I hope more medals will follow. My next goal is to win a medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and make athletics more popular in my country."

Zango began his sports career as a football player before his PE teacher spotted his athletics potential.

"I went to the athletics track and he told me that I was more skilled in jumping events than in running events," Zango said. "This is how I started with triple jump. I then came to France to study electrical engineering at university."

Zango's debut at an international athletics competition was at the 2013 Summer Universaide in the Russian city of Kazan, where he finished sixth with an effort of 15.96m.

By the time of the 2015 Summer Universiade at Gwangju in South Korea, Zango was a far more accomplished performer. He competed in both the long and triple jump, failing to qualify for the final in the former event but earning silver in the latter with 16.76m. Gold went to Russia's Dmitry Sorokin with 17.29m.

Before competing in his third Universiade, Zango went to the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, where he failed to qualify, the 2016 African Championships, where he took silver with 16.81m, and the Rio Olympic Games, where he reached 15.99m but failed to go on to the final.

The following year he competed at the Universiade in Chinese Taipei and earned another silver with a personal best of 16.97m, just four centimetres shy of gold medallist Nazim Babayev of Azerbaijan.

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics looming, this is an athlete who looks on the brink of great things.