Olympic Champion and Hall of Famer Arnie Robinson passed away Tuesday morning, December 1, at the age of 72. One of the greatest long jumpers in history, Arnie Paul Robinson, Jr., lived in San Diego throughout his career, attending Morse High School, San Diego Mesa College, and San Diego State University, where he was the 1970 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Champion in the long jump. Robinson achieved his greatest fame in his post-collegiate years. A winner of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Trials long jump, Robinson was third at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and took the gold medal in 1976. He was the 1971 Pan American Games champion and was second in 1975. A veteran of 10 international competitions, Robinson was also the first World Cup long jump champion in 1977.Overall, he won seven national long jump titles, six of them outdoors. From 1976 to 1978, he was the top-ranked long jumper in the world with a career best of 27-4.75 in 1976. He retired after the 1979 season but maintained his interest in the sport and became a successful coach at San Diego Mesa College beginning in 1982 where he also served as a professor in Health and Exercise Science until his retirement. His 1998 women’s team won the California Community College State Championship. Robinson was seriously injured in an auto accident on August 19, 2000, but recovered to become coach of the Team USATF jumpers at the 2003 World Championships. Then in 2005, Robinson was diagnosed with a Grade IV brain tumor known as glioblastoma and was given six months to live by doctors. Yet, Robinson lived 15 years. He retired from coaching and teaching in 2010 after 23 years as the Head Track and Field Coach at San Diego Mesa College. On April 13, 2013, San Diego Mesa College honored the Olympian Long Jumper by naming their premier high school and college invitational meet, “The Arnie Robinson Invitational.” Robinson also served as USATF San Diego-Imperial Youth Track and Field Chair and mentored thousands of youth athletes over the years. He was inducted into the USATF National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2000, the San Diego Breitbard Hall of Fame in 1984 and the CCCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2007. Services are pending.