Thomas Sankara and his legacy in sport

The etymology of some names, especially when given retrospectively, represents a kind of programmatic manifesto. Upper Voltaa country in northwest Africa, he was released between 1958 and 1960, undergoing the transition from a French colony to an “independent” nation; But beyond the newspaper, it was not until the early 1980s that it freed itself from its colonial legacy. In addition, Alto Volta is the name of the river that crosses the country until it passes it and flows into Ghana (1500 km of river): a geographical feature, a natural resource, everything that interested the settlers.

“Burkina Faso” instead means “the land of honest men” and it is the new name that Upper Volta adopted in 1984, while also changing its flag and national anthem. The figure behind this Cultural Revolution is Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara, the most important patriot in Burkinabe history. These are the “men of integrity” that Sankara wants to model his country after vertical men in every respect too athlete: And in his few years in government of Burkina Faso, sport will play a fundamental role for the country’s young leader, both on a social and political level.