Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz

Władysław Kozakiewicz (2010)

Władysław Kozakiewicz (born December 8, 1953 in Šalčininkai ) is a former Polish and later German athlete. In 1980 he won the Olympic gold medal in the pole vault with a world record .

Career start

Pole vaulter Kozakiewicz comes from a Polish family in Lithuania who only came to Poland after the period of Stalinism . In 1973 he jumped the first Polish national record with 5.32 m. He completed his first international competition at the European Championships in Rome in 1974 with 5.35 m and won the silver medal behind Vladimir Kischkun . His performance went steadily upwards. In 1975 he set a European record with 5.60 m and so he was one of the favorites at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal . However, he flew to Canada already injured and only finished eleventh. His compatriot Tadeusz Ślusarski became Olympic champion in this competition, so Poland did not go away empty-handed. At the European Championships in Prague in 1978 , he was fourth. He also won in 1977 and 1979 at the European Indoor Championships. His most important competition, however, was to follow at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow , which made him world famous.

1980 Olympic Games in Moscow

In June 1980 Kozakiewicz set a new world record with 5.72 m, which was only a little later in the same month improved by Thierry Vigneron from France to 5.75 m. His strongest opponents in the Moscow competition , however, were his compatriot Ślusarski as defending champion and the Russian Konstantin Volkov from the Soviet Union.

On July 30th, 1980 one of the most fascinating competitions in the history of the pole vault took place. During the entire competition, which lasted more than four hours, the Soviet audience in the stadium tried to upset the two Poles with unfair scandals, whistles and boos at every jump in order to enable their compatriot to win the Olympic Games. In the end, all three had jumped 5.65 m, and Kozakiewicz was the only one to master the 5.7 m. Then he set the world record height of 5.78 m and returned the favor after his successful second attempt with the audience with the Kozakiewicz gesture (Polish: gest Kozakiewicza ), which is still known in Poland today . He raised his right fist towards the audience and hit his upper arm with his left hand. The picture of Kozakiewicz then went around the world. Only the Soviet and Polish press did not show this. In Poland he was voted Sportsman of the Year in 1980, which was another sign of the freedom he had gained.

The time after 1980

In the Polish Athletics Federation, however, Kozakiewicz then had problems. He did not come close to his performance of 5.78 m. Before the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles he was in excellent shape and if it had not been Poland's Olympic boycott, he could have won another Olympic medal. Instead of traveling to the USA as one of the most popular athletes in the Eastern Bloc , which would certainly have caused quite a stir, he had to travel to the USSR again with the Polish team for competitions. After the Olympic Games, the socialist athletes returned to meetings in Western Europe, but Kozakiewicz was summoned home after only two competitions, which ultimately led to his decision to leave Poland.

emigration

In 1985 Kozakiewicz emigrated to the Federal Republic of Germany. He took on German citizenship and competed in some competitions for the German national athletics team, but without major international success. However, he held the German record for some time with 5.70 m and was German champion from 1986 to 1988. In Germany he started for TK Hannover. With a height of 1.87 m, his competition weight was 86 kg.

After finishing his active career, he worked as a pole vault coach. He was also politically active after reunification in the 1990s, although he continued to live in Germany, but accepted a city council office in Gdynia , where he takes care of the city's sporting interests. He is currently a sports teacher at the CJD Christophorus School in Elze (Germany).

Medals

• Gold - 1980 Olympic Games
• Silver - European Championships 1974
• Gold - European Indoor Championships 1977 and 1979
• Bronze - European Indoor Championships 1975 and 1982

Championship title

• Polish champion: 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984
• German champion: 1986, 1987, 1988

literature

• Klaus Amrhein: Biographical manual on the history of German athletics 1898–2005 . 2 volumes. Darmstadt 2005, published on German Athletics Promotion and Project Society
• Manfred Holzhausen: world records and world record holder. Triple jump / pole vault . Grevenbroich 2002

Web links

• Władysław Kozakiewicz on sporting-heroes.net

Footnotes

1. ^ Gest Kozakiewicza - Olimpiada Moskwa 1980 in Sportwizja.pl (accessed on June 18, 2010)