Remembering Olympic Long Jump Medalist Arnie Robinson

SAN DIEGO -- I admit I'm not a fan of writing first-person stories, but this is different. This is personal. This is special.

One of track and field's greatest athletes, Arnie Robinson, passed away Tuesday morning at age 72.

Maybe you don't even remember Arnie, who captured the 1976 Olympic long jump gold medal in Montreal after finishing third in 1972 in Munich. He was a multi-time National AAU champion as well as the NCAA titlist for San Diego State in 1970.

Arnie wasn't in the spotlight like Jesse Owens, but there was no finer emissary for the sport than the always-friendly, always positive, always smiling Arnie Robinson who may have shown his true grit recovering from a horrific auto accident in 2000 in which his car was t-boned.

Arnie graduated from Morse High where he was a 24-foot longer jumper who also high jumped and ran the hurdles.

He attended San Diego Mesa Community College where he posted marks of 25-6 in the long jump, 6-8 in the high jump and 48-5 in the triple jump before going on to San Diego State where he bounded 25-10.50 for the NCAA gold medal.

The same year he joined the Army where he was allowed to compete, winning his first AAU/USATF title in 1971, hitting a wind-aided 26-10.75. Six more jewels would be added to the crown.

In 1972 he was one of the favorites in Munich after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials but no one who knew Arnie would be surprised to learn that the massacre of the Israeli athletes less than a week earlier affected him greatly. Arnie was devastated but still managed to finish third at 26-4 behind Randy Williams, who hit 27-4.50.

Four years later, though, there was no stopping Robinson who proved to be at his best in the biggest of all meets, hitting 27-4 ¾ in Canada. In the Olympic Trials in Eugene that year, he reached a PR of 27-5.75.

Arnie Robinson and Track and Field were inseparable as he moved into coaching at San Diego Mesa in 1982. In 1998 his women's team won the state championship.

He was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame in 2000 after his accident and continued coaching until 2010 when his health took a turn for the worse. In 1984 he was inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame, honoring the best of San Diego athletes, and in 2005 he entered the California Community College Hall of Fame.

One of his brightest moments came in 2013 when San Diego High honored him by naming its major track meet the "Arnie Robinson Invitational."

Despite being ambulatory, he never missed one of the invitationals. 

Those are the stats. Impressive-absolutely. But not nearly as impressive as the man himself.

As a reporter, there are athletes you treasure because no matter what, win or lose, they make themselves available with totally quotable comments.  Even after he competed, Arnie Robinson was a font of information, someone you could go to if you were writing about almost anything to do with track and sometimes, just life in general.

Arnie Robinson was quiet, unassuming and more scarecrow-looking than superstar at 6-foot-2, 160-pounds. But those who knew him in high school marveled at his workouts 

"Arnie, (Oceanside High high jumper) Jerry Culp and I went to Balboa Stadium one day and snuck into train," said former teammate Donnell Smith. "After warming up, Arnie led us running up the stairs (not as bad as the Los Angeles Coliseum but formidable). At the top we started back down just on our right leg. At the bottom we hopped back up on the left leg. We did that completely around the (horseshoe)  stadium.

"I collapsed on the grass and he was just smiling, barely breathing. He could long jump, high jump and hurdle with anyone. But he was more than that, he was always there when you needed him."

Indeed, when local USATF president Paul Greer or longtime promoters Al and Donald Franken wanted to bring big-time meets to San Diego, they knew Arnie Robinson would be right there in whatever capacity they were needed, including officiating and timing.

"Arnie, James King and Wes Williams were there for clinics and press conferences-whatever we needed," said Donald Franken. "They were like brothers and Arnie was beloved. He was the go-to guy, always helpful. Arnie was a hero--at every level-from elite to youth.

"He was a San Diego Hall of Famer, like Tony Gwynn and Bill Walton. And yet he was so humble."

Arnie Robinson could be outrageous, too.

Needing to talk to someone prior to one of the major meets in Los Angeles, I asked Arnie what we could look for from him. He paused, and quietly said:

"I'm going for the world record," he said pointedly. "If Bob Beamon can jump 29-2 ½, I can jump farther than that."

I said, 'no really.' And he said suddenly serious, 'really.'

Of course, he didn't set the world record, but it certainly put a spark into the meet and after hitting 27-feet-plus numerous times that day, he smiled and said, "maybe next week."

Always upbeat with a ready smile and calm voice that could melt icebergs.

Arnie Robinson, Rest in Peace.