Upper Volta at the 1972 Summer Olympics but boycotted it with other Africa nations. By the time it returned to the Games in 1988, the nation was known as Burkina Faso. The first athlete from Upper Volta to compete in the Olympics was Taka Gangua, who along with Chadian Taki N'Dio, competed in the men's javelin throw as part of the French delegation to the 1924 Summer Games in Paris. French Upper Volta then formed part of French West Africa, a federation of eight French colonial territories. Upper Volta competed under that name for the first and only time at the Summer Olympics in the 1972 Games
Upper Volta at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. Upper Volta was represented by a single athlete in the athletics, André Bicaba, making his only appearance at the Olympics. He took part in the sixth heat of the men's 100 metres, finishing 5th with a time of 10.71 and failing to advance to the quarter finals. Following the 1972 Games, Upper Volta considered sending athletes to the 1976 Summer Olympics, but joined with 28 other countries in a boycott after the IOC allowed New Zealand to participate in the Games, despite the breach of the international sports boycott of South Africa by the nation's rugby