1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état The 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état was an event which took place on 3 January 1966 in the Republic of Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso), when following large-scale popular unrest the military intervened against the government, forced President Maurice Yaméogo to resign, and replaced him with Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana. Lamizana would go on to rule until 1980, when yet another military "coup d'état" overthrew him. The 1966 coup would prove to be the first in a long line of Upper Voltan and later Burkinabé coups, both failed and successful such, and marked the beginning
Upper Volta at the 1972 Summer Olympics Upper Volta at the 1972 Summer Olympics The Republic of Upper Volta (as Upper Volta) competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. This was the first and only time the country participated under that name at the Olympic Games. However, the first Upper Voltan athletes took part in the Olympics at the 1924 Games as part of the French contingent. André Bicaba was the only athlete representing Upper Volta in 1972, who participated in the men's 100 metres but did not progress past his heat. Upper Volta initially sought to send athletes to the 1976 Summer Olympics,