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Clint David Robinson, OAM[1] (born 27 July 1972) is an Australian sprint kayaker and surf lifesaver who has won a complete set of medals at the Summer Olympics (gold: 1992 K-1 1000 m, silver: 2004: K-2 500 m, bronze: 1996 K-1 1000 m).
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's canoe sprint | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1992 Barcelona | K-1 1000 m |
 |
2004 Athens | K-2 500 m |
 |
1996 Atlanta | K-1 1000 m |
| World Championships | ||
|
1994 Mexico City | K-1 1000 m |
|
1991 Paris | K-4 10000 m |
|
1995 Duisburg | K-1 1000 m |
|
1994 Mexico City | K-2 500 m |
Career
editRobinson was born in Brisbane and grew up in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. As a junior surf lifesaving competitor, he won the Cadet Malibu Board Race at the 1987 National Surf Lifesaving Championships. The following year he was invited to train with the Australian Olympic kayak squad. and later competed in five Summer Olympics.[2]
In 1992, Robinson won the gold medal in the K-1 1000 m event at the Barcelona Summer Olympics, becoming Australia's first Olympic gold medallist in canoe/kayak. He secured the victory by defeating Knut Holmann, the reigning World Champion from Norway, in a close finish. After the race, Robinson was reportedly dehydrated, which delayed his ability to provide a urine sample for doping analysis for several hours..[3] In the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he competed again in the K-1 1000 m event, where he earned a bronze medal after leading early in the race. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Robinson teamed with Nathan Baggaley to win a silver medal in the K-2 500 m event.[citation needed]
At the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Robinson won four medals with a gold (K-1 1000 m: 1994), two silvers (K-1 1000 m: 1995, K-4 10000 m: 1991), and a bronze (K-2 500 m: 1994).
Robinson, awarded an OAM for the finest national championship record of any surf lifesaver (when his gold-medal tally reached 30), was also a promising young rugby league footballer, but from the time he was 12 his ambition in sport never deviated. In that year, 1984, he was watching the Los Angeles Games on television when his father asked him what he wanted to do with his life. Back came the answer: "I want to go to the Olympics and win a gold medal."[citation needed]
Robinson competed in the Uncle Toby's Super Series (Professional Iron Man circuit) from 1989 to 1995 and donated both the board and ski legs of the races. Due to his heavy training regime for kayaks, Clint had little time to train for swimming and running and his performances on the Iron Man circuit suffered due to this.[citation needed]
Robinson has continued to compete in surf lifesaving winning a place on the Australian teams of 1993, 1995 and 1999. In 1999, he surpassed Trevor Hendy's record of 23 national titles to become the most successful Australian surf lifesaver ever. By 2008 at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, he had extended his tally to 36 titles. He was inducted into the Surf Lifesaving Hall of Fame in 2004.[citation needed]
Clint is regarded as the greatest competitor in the history of Surf Lifesaving. He has won Australian titles in the ski and board races and also won the board rescue, board relay, double ski, ski relay and taplin relay. His 13 open age individual titles rank second only to Ky Hurst.[citation needed]
In 2001, he was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport 'Best of the Best'.[4] In 2017 Robinson was made head coach of Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club after coaching water skiing there in 2016.[5]
Robinson is also an experienced media professional, having worked as a commentator and sports presenter. In 1998, he joined WIN Television as a sports presenter on the Sunshine Coast edition of WIN News. He had previously been a commentator on WIN Television's coverage of the "Maroochy Surf Classic".[6]
References
edit- ^ "Robinson, Clint David". It's an Honour. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "Clint Robinson OAM". Paddle Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ^ Wallechinsky, David (2012). The Book of Olympic Lists. Aurum Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1845137731.
- ^ Australian Institute of Sport 'Best of the Best' Archived 17 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club Annual Report 2016/2017" (PDF). Sunshine Beach SLSC. p. 18.
- ^ WIN News presenter profile: Clint Robinson, WIN Television website, www.wintv.com.au, 28 July 2000.
External links
edit- Australian Olympic Committee profile
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007 at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-01-05)
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-11-09)
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Clint Robinson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
- Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Canoeing: Men's Kayak Singles 1000 Meters". In The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 473.