SAN DIEGO – Arnie Robinson, a two-time Olympic medalist and charter member of the Aztec Athletic Hall of Fame, passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at the age of 72.
A native San Diegan, Robinson twice collected All-America honors as a long jumper on the SDSU men's track and field squad, winning the NCAA championship in 1970 with a leap of 25 feet, 10 ½ inches to go with a fourth-place finish in 1971.
Robinson achieved even greater success on the international stage, earning a No. 1 world ranking on four occasions during the 1970s after winning a record-tying six AAU titles and four straight USA Outdoor Championships to go with a gold-medal performance at the 1971 Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia.
Robinson also excelled in Olympic competition, earning a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Games, before taking home a gold medal in 1976 with a personal-best leap of 27-4 ¾ (8.35m) in Montreal.
In addition, Robinson captured the gold medal at the first-ever IAAF World Cup meet (now Continental Cup) in Dusseldorf, West Germany in 1977 and was a silver medalist at the 1975 Pan Am Games in Mexico City.
Robinson, who prepped at nearby Morse High School, attended San Diego Mesa College before graduating from SDSU in 1971.
Following his retirement from competition in 1979, Robinson was hired as the track and field head coach at Mesa College in 1982 and also taught physical education courses at the school. In 2013, Mesa College renamed its annual home track and field meet the Arnie Robinson Invitational in his honor.
Robinson was part of the 16-member inaugural class enshrined into the Aztec Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988. He was also inducted into the USA Track & Field (USATF) Hall of Fame in 2000.