With this research, our first ambition was to describe and analyse the respective positions and purpose of gymnastics and sports in Madagascar during the French colonial era [1896–1960]. As a multifaceted activity that can be studied and defined from different viewpoints, sport is a choice subject for historical studies. The major idea, which guided our ten-year study, is that the history of sports is another – and, we hope, a novel – approach to the analysis and drafting of the history of Madagascar under French colonial rule. Far from being limited to simple and entertaining physical practices, Western sports imported by the colonists brought deep transformations in the educational, political, social and cultural spheres, and left their mark long after the departure of the French.