Clint Robinson

Medal record
Men's canoe sprint
Olympic Games
Gold	1992 Barcelona	K-1 1000 m
Silver	2004 Athens	K-2 500 m
Bronze	1996 Atlanta	K-1 1000 m
World Championships
Gold	1994 Mexico City	K-1 1000 m
Silver	1991 Paris	K-4 10000 m
Silver	1995 Duisburg	K-1 1000 m
Bronze	1994 Mexico City	K-2 500 m

Clint Robinson (born 27 July 1972 in Brisbane, Queensland) 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).

Robinson grew up in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. A junior surf lifesaving 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 onto to compete in five Summer Olympics.

Clint Robinson became Australia’s first canoe / kayak gold medallist when he defeated the Norwegian World Champion Knut Holmann to win the K-1 1000 m final at Barcelona 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 in 2004, Robinson teamed with Nathan Baggaley to win a silver medal in the K-2 500 m.

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.”

Robinson competed in the Uncle Toby's Super Series (Professional Iron Man circuit) from 1989-1995 and domated 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's record of 23 national titles to become the most successful Australian surf lifesaver ever. By 2008, he had extended his tally to 36 titles. He was inducted into the Surf Lifesaving Hall of Fame in 2004.

Robinson is now head coach of Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club.

References

• Australian Olympic Committee profile
• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships - Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936-2007.
• ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships - Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936-2007.
• Sports-reference.com 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.

Persondata
Name	Robinson, Clint
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 July 1972
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death