Photo: Klapi—CC BY-SA 4.0
Władysław Kozakiewicz
POLMenWładysław Kozakiewicz is a Lithuanian-born retired Polish athlete who specialised in the pole vault.
He is best known for winning the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow and the bras d'honneur gesture which he showed to the hostile Soviet crowd.
In Poland, where the gesture was viewed as a symbol of resistance against Soviet dominance, it became known as "Kozakiewicz's gesture" (gest Kozakiewicza). In addition, he won several medals at continental level, won two Summer Universiades and broke the pole vault world record three times, twice outdoors and once indoors. He is also a ten-time Polish champion.
As of Sep 17, 2026: Pole Vault 5.78 (#194 all-time), 1989 season best 5.50 (May 14, 1989, Scheeßel (FRG)) · Olympic Games: 1 gold · 72 years old
Personal bests
Medals
| 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 1 | - | - | 1 |