What really happened on August 17, 1998, when Władysław Komar and Tadeusz Ślusarski, two Olympic gold medalists, died on National Road 3? This question leads to a documentary that, for twenty-eight years, has not been matched to the date of their deaths.

This film tells the story of Komar and Ślusarski's accident from a completely different perspective than any other anniversary texts to date. You'll learn about Władysław Komar's childhood, marked by orphanage and the murder of his father in Lithuania, the behind-the-scenes of his gold medal in the shot put at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and the journey of Tadeusz Ślusarski, the quiet Olympic pole vault champion from Montreal 1976, nicknamed the "Master of the Shadows." The investigation reveals what life was like for Polish Olympians after their careers ended in Poland in the 1990s, without sports pensions or state support. Key fact: both died sixteen months before the Olympic Benefit Act came into force, which would have changed their fate in old age.

The film is based on the account of the only surviving witness to the accident, press archives from 1998, and the Journal of Laws, which has never before been linked to this tragedy. It's a story about the friendship between two completely different people, the price of sporting glory in the Polish People's Republic, and how the state remembers its heroes only after their death. If you're interested in the hidden secrets of Polish sports history, give us a thumbs up, comment if you remember that August, and subscribe to the channel with the notification bell so you don't miss future episodes of this investigative series.

0:00 - The Secret of Route 3
4:18 - Komar's Childhood in Lithuania
13:32 - Gold Medal in Munich
24:44 - The Boy from Żary
28:48 - Montreal and Moscow
39:39 - The Poverty of Olympic Champions
44:17 - The Late Olympic Law
53:30 - The Price of an Olympic Medal
1:01:51 - The Last Journey and the Accident
1:19:00 - Memory and Monuments