James J. Robinson Jr. (born August 27, 1954, in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

) is a former American

middle distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 15 ...

. He was the dominant American

800 meters The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

runner from the mid-1970s through the mid 1980s. He ran in the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada, finishing fifth in his semi-final and not making the final. He was on the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic team that did not get to compete due to the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...

. He did however receive one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

s created especially for the spurned athletes. His international achievements included a silver medal at the

1979 IAAF World Cup The 2nd IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on August 24–26, 1979, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Canad ...

and

1981 IAAF World Cup The 3rd IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 4–6, 1981, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Overall results M ...

and a gold medal at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos de 1979''), officially the VIII Pan American Games were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to July 15 ...

over the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist and (until that week) world record holder,

Alberto Juantorena Alberto Juantorena (born 3 December 1950) is a Cuban former runner. He is the only athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m Olympic titles, which he achieved in 1976. He was ranked as world's best runner in the 400 m in 1974 and 1976–1978, a ...

. He also finished fifth in the 1983 World Championships in Athletics. Domestically he won the American title at 880 yard or 800 meters 7 times including five times in a row between 1978 and 1982. During that same period while Robinson was the best outdoors, he did not win a single Indoor title. The answer to this was that Robinson's strategy didn't work on the short straightaways indoors. Robinson's notable strategy was to come from behind, with the late rush on the home stretch always thrilling the crowd. When this strategy evaded him, it almost always looked like a mere strategic error, rather than being beaten by the competition. In the 1984 Olympic Trials in what may have been the most thrilling American 800 meter race ever, Robinson finished in fourth place, not making the team, while having exactly the same time as the third place qualifier John Marshall (1:43.92 - a lifetime best for both men). A step ahead, Earl Jones and

Johnny Gray John Lee Gray Jr. (born June 19, 1960) is a retired American world class 800 meter runner from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s and the holder of the 600m world best. A four-time-Olympian (1984-1996) in 1985 he set the US record of 1:42.60 at a ...

were breaking

Rick Wohlhuter Rick Wohlhuter (born December 23, 1948) is a retired American middle-distance runner. Wohlhuter won the national indoor championship in the 600 yards in 1970. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1971, and later qualified for the 1 ...

's American record (1:43.91) with each running the same time (1:43.74). Robinson ran for the Inner City Track Club after college. Robinson ran for

McClymonds High School McClymonds High School is a public high school in the West Oakland neighborhood of Oakland, California, United States. In addition to being the third oldest high school in Oakland, it is the only comprehensive high school in West Oakland, opera ...

, finishing second in the 880 yards at the 1972 CIF California State Meet. Next he ran for

Laney College Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. Th ...

, winning the conference and state championships at 880 yards both 1973 and 1974, his 1974 time of 1:45.7 set the National Junior College record for 800 meters and remains the Laney College record. His 47.5 440 yards from 1974 also remains the college record. He also anchored his team's mile relay which finished second and third those respective years. And he ran for the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

where he is still #2 on the school's all-time list and the anchor man of the school record 4x400 meters relay team (held since 1976, the first year the NCAA ran the metric distance). Robinson is currently an assistant Track and Cross Country coach at

California State University, East Bay California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the 23-campus California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 pos ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, James 1954 births Living people Track and field athletes from Oakland, California American male middle-distance runners Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Junior college men's track and field athletes in the United States University of California, Berkeley alumni Congressional Gold Medal recipients Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games