All Topics  
Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz

 
Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz
 
 
  Topics Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz Topic Home

Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz (born December 8, 1953) is a Polish
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
 pole vault
Pole vault

Pole vaulting is an athletic athletics event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a #bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greece, as well as the Crete and Celts....
 jumper. Kozakiewicz was born to a Polish family in Šalcininkai
Šalcininkai

?alcininkai is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, situated south-east of Vilnius, near the border with Belarus.?alcininkai got its city rights in 1956 and is now a Capital of the ?alcininkai district municipality....
 (Polish: Soleczniki) near Vilnius
Vilnius

Vilnius is the largest city and the Capital of Lithuania, with a population of 555,613 as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality....
, in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
Lithuanian SSR

The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR for short, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union that made up the former Soviet Union....
.

Kozakiewicz broke the world record three times, was European Indoor Champion in 1977 and 1979, Polish Champion ten times, and won a gold medal during the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics

The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Moscow in the Soviet Union....
 in Moscow
Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
.

In 1984 he defected to West Germany
West Germany

West Germany was the common English name for the Germany , from its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when East Germany was dissolved and its States of Germany became part of the Federal Republic, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany....
, where he won the national title twice, in 1986 and 1987.

a class="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m4553620",this)' onMouseout='hide("m4553620")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Poland">Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
, the Italian elbow gesture, known under various names, became known as the "Kozakiewicz's gesture" (gest Kozakiewicza).






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz'
Start a new discussion about 'Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz (born December 8, 1953) is a Polish
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
 pole vault
Pole vault

Pole vaulting is an athletic athletics event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a #bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greece, as well as the Crete and Celts....
 jumper. Kozakiewicz was born to a Polish family in Šalcininkai
Šalcininkai

?alcininkai is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, situated south-east of Vilnius, near the border with Belarus.?alcininkai got its city rights in 1956 and is now a Capital of the ?alcininkai district municipality....
 (Polish: Soleczniki) near Vilnius
Vilnius

Vilnius is the largest city and the Capital of Lithuania, with a population of 555,613 as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality....
, in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
Lithuanian SSR

The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR for short, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union that made up the former Soviet Union....
.

Kozakiewicz broke the world record three times, was European Indoor Champion in 1977 and 1979, Polish Champion ten times, and won a gold medal during the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics

The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Moscow in the Soviet Union....
 in Moscow
Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
.

In 1984 he defected to West Germany
West Germany

West Germany was the common English name for the Germany , from its formation in May 1949 to German reunification in October 1990, when East Germany was dissolved and its States of Germany became part of the Federal Republic, ending the more than 40-year division of Germany....
, where he won the national title twice, in 1986 and 1987.

Kozakiewicz's gesture

Kozakiewicz Gesture
In Poland
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
, the Italian elbow gesture, known under various names, became known as the "Kozakiewicz's gesture" (gest Kozakiewicza). Kozakiewicz made the gesture to Russian spectators in the stadium during the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The crowd supporting Soviet jumper Volkov
Konstantin Volkov (athlete)

Konstantin Yuryevich Volkov is a retired pole vaulter who represented the USSR. In 1980 he won the 1980 European Indoor Championships in Athletics with a championship record of 5.60 metres ....
 booed and whistled during Kozakiewicz's spectacular performance. Having just secured his gold medal position, Kozakiewicz made the gesture in defiance to the Soviet crowd. He later confirmed his dominance over the competition by breaking the world record, clearing 578 cm.

The photos of this incident circled the globe, with the exception of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 and its satellites. While international observers varied in their reaction to the incident, Kozakiewicz's act received much support in Polish society, which resented Soviet control over Eastern Europe. The Soviet ambassador to Poland demanded that Kozakiewicz be stripped of his medal over his "insult to the Soviet people". The official response of the Polish government was that the gesture had been an involuntary muscle spasm caused by his exertion.

See also

  • 1968 Olympics Black Power salute
    1968 Olympics Black Power salute

    The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a noted black civil rights protest and one of the most overtly political statements in the 110 year history of the modern Olympic Games....


External links