Hear the pole-vaulter who offended the entire Soviet Union at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow explain himself.
Władysław Kozakiewicz, a pole-vaulter who dominated the event for over a decade, didn’t have much luck during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Despite being a strong favourite, he failed to medal, after his foot broke while taking a warm-up jump. Four years later, he was healthy and ready to make up for the Montreal upset – but there were other adversities to overcome.
The Moscow Olympics was overshadowed by a massive boycott – many Western sports powers had pulled out in condemnation of the Soviet-Afghan War. The overall atmosphere was gruesome and to make things even worse, the judges were doing their best to make sure athletes from the Soviet Union won. And then there was the crowd.... easily 70 000 people, booing, jeering and whistling at every non-soviet athlete.
Kozakiewicz felt strong and challenged them in the most provocative way possible. If you want to know how it ended, and how far the repercussions of his daring behaviour went, listen to the ARM, the very first episode of Season II of Stories From The Eastern West!
This episode is a Stories From The Eastern West co-production with WBUR’s Only a Game.
Check out their show and episode archive at http://www.wbur.org/onlyagame
[00:54] The Black Power Protest
[02:09] Historical Background
[03:10] Kozakiewicz sets up the scene, talking about the overall atmosphere during the Moscow Olympics
[05:57] Kozakiewicz recounts how the competition rolled out
[08:37] The arm!
[11:24] The aftermath of Kozakiewicz's controversial behaviour
[13:52] Kozakiewicz's struggles with Polish communist authorities
[16:30] Thanks & Credits
Explaining Kozakiewicz’s Gesture: Poland’s Most Scandalous Arm / on Culture.pl
Nie mówcie mi jak mam żyć by Władysław Kozakiewicz / book (in Polish only) on Amazon
Władysław Kozakiewicz - Facts and Figures / on Wikipedia
The 1980 Moscow Olympics Boycott / on Wilsoncenter.org
Why Smith and Carlos Raised Their Fists / from the New York Times
U.S. National Anthem Protests / on Wikipedia
Władysław Kozakiewicz’s winning jump / on YouTube.com
Black Power Salute / Mini documentary / on YouTube.com
Renaud Lavillenie sets the current World Record / on YouTube.com
Joachim Ciecierski / for becoming Władysław Kozakiewicz’s English voice. Joachim is a long-time journalist at Radio Poland, Poland’s official international broadcasting station.
DJ Spike & Break Da Funk / for allowing us to use Masztalesz, the funky tune playing during the credits and throughout the bonus episode.
Karen Given (Only a Game): editing
Wojciech Oleksiak: script, scoring, sound design, mixing
Nitzan Reisner: host, one-person pep rally
Adam Zulawski: host, editing
Aga Derlak
Marek Pędziwiatr
Joanna Duda
Kuba Więcek
Marcin Masecki
CHAIN
PASSENGER
EXILE
REVOLUTION
DAISIES
VISIONARY
Announcing Season IV
The Fusionist: Zbigniew Namysłowski
The Virtuoso: Adam Makowicz
The New Yorker: Michał Urbaniak
The Pioneeer: Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski
The Queen: Urszula Dudziak
Announcing: Rebel Spirits
STATELESS
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