Sporting Witness
Sporting Witness
The pole-vaulter who insulted the Soviet Union
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September 5, 2019
9 minutes
Available for over a year
At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, the Polish pole-vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz caused uproar by beating his Soviet rival to win the gold medal with a world-record jump. After being booed by the crowd throughout the event, Kozakiewicz sparked a diplomatic incident by making an obscene gesture to the stadium. An unrepentant Kozakiewicz talks to Robert Nicholson.
(Photo: Władysław Kozakiewicz. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)