Athletics at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault

Men's pole vault at the Games of the XXII Olympiad
Venue	Lenin Central Stadium
Date	28 July 1980 (qualifications) 30 July 1980 (final)
Competitors	19 from 10 nations
Winning height	5.78 WR
Medalists
Władysław Kozakiewicz  Poland Konstantin Volkov  Soviet Union Tadeusz Ślusarski  Poland

Official Video

The Men's Pole Vault event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union had an entrylist of 19 competitors. The final was held on Wednesday July 30, 1980. The top twelve and ties and all those clearing 5.40 metres advanced to the final.

Throughout the event, home town fans were cheering for Konstantin Volkov, while booing, whistling and jeering at the Poles Tadeusz Ślusarski and Władysław Kozakiewicz. There were even accusations that the Soviet facility management were opening and closing giant doors to the stadium to change the wind pattern against opposing vaulters.

When Kozakiewicz secured his gold medal position, Kozakiewicz made the Bras d'honneur gesture which became known as "Kozakiewicz's gesture" (gest Kozakiewicza). in defiance to the Soviet crowd. He later confirmed his dominance over the competition by breaking the world record, clearing at 5.78 meters.

The photos of this incident circled the globe, with the exception of the Soviet Union and its satellites, although the event was broadcast live on TV in many countries of the Bloc. 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 (Poland was in the midst of labor strikes that led to the creation of the labor union Solidarity less than two months later). After the 1980 Olympics ended, 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 Kozakiewicz's arm gesture had been an involuntary muscle spasm caused by his exertion.

Medalists

Gold	Władysław Kozakiewicz  Poland
Silver	Konstantin Volkov  Soviet Union
Silver	Tadeusz Ślusarski  Poland

Results

Qualification

Held on Monday July 28, 1980

Qualification rule: Qualifying performance 5.40 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final.

Rank	Group	Name	Nationality	5.15	5.25	5.35	5.40	Result	Notes
1	A	Tadeusz Ślusarski	Poland	–	xo	–	o	5.40	Q
1	B	Mariusz Klimczyk	Poland	–	xo	–	o	5.40	Q
3	A	Jean-Michel Bellot	France	–	o	xo	o	5.40	Q
4	A	Thierry Vigneron	France	xo	xo	xo	o	5.40	Q
5	A	Władysław Kozakiewicz	Poland	–	o	–	xo	5.40	Q
6	B	Miro Zalar	Sweden	o	o	o	xo	5.40	Q
7	B	Tapani Haapakoski	Finland	–	o	xo	xo	5.40	Q
8	A	Konstantin Volkov	Soviet Union	–	o	o	–	5.35	q
9	B	Rauli Pudas	Finland	–	o	o	xxx	5.35	q
10	B	Brian Hooper	Great Britain	o	o	xo	xxx	5.35	q
11	A	Sergey Kulibaba	Soviet Union	–	xo	xo	–	5.35	q
12	A	Philippe Houvion	France	o	xxo	xo	x	5.35	q
13	B	Atanas Tarev	Bulgaria	–	xo	xxx		5.25
14	A	Felix Böhni	Switzerland	o	xxx			5.15
15	B	Axel Weber	East Germany	xo	xxx			5.15
	A	Antti Kalliomäki	Finland	–	–	xxx		NM
	A	Yuriy Prokhorenko	Soviet Union	–	–	xxx		NM
	B	Patrick Desruelles	Belgium	xxx				NM
	B	Ivo Yanchev	Bulgaria	xxx				NM

Final

Held on Wednesday July 30, 1980.

Rank	Name	Nationality	5.15	5.25	5.35	5.45	5.50	5.55	5.60	5.65	5.70	5.75	5.78	5.82	Result	Notes
	Władysław Kozakiewicz	Poland	–	–	o	–	o	–	o	o	o	o	xo	xxx	5.78	WR
	Konstantin Volkov	Soviet Union	–	–	o	–	–	o	–	xxo	xx–	x			5.65
	Tadeusz Ślusarski	Poland	–	–	o	–	–	o	–	xxo	xxx				5.65
4	Philippe Houvion	France	–	xo	–	xo	–	o	–	xxo	xxx				5.65
5	Jean-Michel Bellot	France	–	–	o	–	o	–	o	xxx					5.60
6	Mariusz Klimczyk	Poland	–	o	–	xo	–	o	–	xxx					5.55
7	Thierry Vigneron	France	–	o	–	o	–	xxx							5.45
8	Sergey Kulibaba	Soviet Union	–	xo	–	o	–	xxx							5.45
9	Tapani Haapakoski	Finland	–	xo	–	xo	–	xxx							5.45
10	Miro Zalar	Sweden	–	o	o	xx–	x								5.35
11	Brian Hooper	Great Britain	o	o	xxo	xxx									5.35
12	Rauli Pudas	Finland	–	o	–	xxx									5.25

See also

• Kozakiewicz's gesture
• 1982 Men's European Championships Pole Vault (Athens)
• 1983 Men's World Championships Pole Vault (Helsinki)
• 1984 Men's Olympic Pole Vault (Los Angeles)
• 1986 Men's European Championships Pole Vault (Stuttgart)
• 1987 Men's World Championships Pole Vault (Rome)