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Sporting Witness: The pole-vaulter who insulted the Soviet Union

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The pole-vaulter who insulted the Soviet Union

05/09/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - Sporting Witness, The pole-vaulter who insulted the Soviet Union

In 1980, Poland's Władysław Kozakiewicz won Olympic gold, then insulted the Moscow crowd

In 1980, Poland's Władysław Kozakiewicz won Olympic gold, then insulted the Moscow crowd.

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)

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