André Bicaba (born 12 January 1945) is a former Burkinabé

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er. Bicaba became the first athlete to represent the Republic of Upper Volta at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

when he competed in the Men's 100 metres at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. He finished fifth in his heat with a time of 10.71 seconds. Prior to the 1972 Summer Olympics, Bicaba lived in

Bobo-Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 904,920 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo-Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking population (re ...

and worked as a

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teacher. He is a member of the Bwaba tribe. He began his athletic training a year before the Olympics after a new government initiative emphasized physical fitness and greatly improved the country's athletic facilities.

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

funded his trip to the Olympics through a scholarship which also allowed him a month to train in and acclimatize to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. When interviewed about his Olympic prospects before competing, he said that "we cannot dream of a medal" but "who can predict results?" As he was the only competitor from the African nation he was also the flag bearer at the

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and

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References

1945 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Burkinabé male sprinters Olympic athletes for Burkina Faso Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics 21st-century Burkinabé people {{BurkinaFaso-athletics-bio-stub