Clint David Robinson, OAM (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).

Career

Robinson was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and grew up in

Nambour Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people. Geography Nambour is north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town lies in the sub ...

on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. A junior

surf lifesaving Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, inc ...

champion, he won the Cadet Malibu Board Race at the 1987 National Surf Lifesaving Championships and the following year he was invited to train with the Australian Olympic kayak squad. Robinson would go on to compete in five Summer Olympics. Clint Robinson became Australia's first canoe / kayak gold medallist when he defeated the Norwegian

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Knut Holmann Knut Holmann (born 31 July 1968, in Oslo) is a Norwegian sprint canoeist competed from the early 1990s to the early 2000s (decade). Competing in four Summer Olympics, he won six medals. This included three golds (K-1 500 ...

to win the K-1 1000 m final at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in 1992. Robinson paddled magnificently in his Barcelona final, holding off sustained challenges from Greg Barton (US) and Marin Popescu (Romania), then emptying every reserve of energy in a finish that edged out the favourite Holmann. Afterwards he was so dehydrated that he was unable to produce a urine sample for doping analysis for six hours. Four years later in Atlanta, he lined up against Holmann again in the K-1 1000 m and led early, but finished with the bronze. In

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 2004, Robinson teamed with

Nathan Baggaley Nathan Baggaley (born 6 December 1975 in Byron Bay, New South Wales) is an Australian sprint canoeist and surfski champion. He is a three-times world champion in the K-1 500 m events and has also won two Olympic silver medals. His career has ...

to win a silver medal in the K-2 500 m. At the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). The World Cham ...

, Robinson won four medals with a gold (K-1 1000 m:

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

), two silvers (K-1 1000 m:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, K-4 10000 m:

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

), 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." Robinson competed in the

Uncle Toby's Super Series The Uncle Toby's Super Series was a professional Australian Ironman (surf lifesaving), Iron Man circuit that ran from 1989 to 2001. It was considered by many to be the pinnacle of Surf Lifesaving and inspired many young kids to become involved ...

(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. 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 Trevor Ronald Hendy, AM (born 7 August 1968) is a former Australian professional surf lifesaver. Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Hendy competed in Ironman(surf lifesaving) races, winning the Australian Championship six times and co ...

'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. Clint is regarded as the greatest surfcraft 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 only second to Ky Hurst. In 2001, he was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport 'Best of the Best'. Robinson is now head coach of Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club. Robinson is also an experienced media professional, having worked as a commentator and sports presenter. In 1998, he joined

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netw ...

as a sports presenter on the Sunshine Coast edition of ''

WIN News ''WIN News'' is a local television news service in parts of regional Australia, produced by WIN Television. 12 regional bulletins and news update services are presented from WIN's headquarters in Wollongong, and until 2021 included production ...

''. He had previously been a commentator on WIN Television's coverage of the "Maroochy Surf Classic".WIN News presenter profile: Clint Robinson, WIN Television website, www.wintv.com.au, 28 July 2000.

References

External links

Australian Olympic Committee profile
* * * *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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Clint 1972 births Sportspeople from the Sunshine Coast Australian Institute of Sport canoeists Australian male canoeists Australian surf lifesavers Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Living people Olympic canoeists of Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Sportspeople from Brisbane Olympic medalists in canoeing Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees