Olympic long jump champion Arnie Robinson Jr. was confirmed dead on December 1. He was 72 years old.
Robinson Jr.'s son Paul Robinson announced that his father passed away after he contracted the coronavirus.
"Respect COVID for what it is. Once COVID comes and closes in, there's nothing you can do," the athlete's son Paul Robinson spoke in a statement.
The American athlete placed third in the long jump competition during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, and eventually bagged the gold in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Quebec, Montreal.
As support for the peace between the United States and Vietnam, Robinson Jr. wore an anti-Vietnam armband. His jumper tracksuit was embedded with a symbol of three bombs. The symbol can also be seen on some tracksuits from the U.S.
In a report by ABC 10news San Diego, Paul said that his father began feeling ill in mid-November. He added that his father was experiencing coughing and labored breathing at that time.
A week and a half after contracting the coronavirus, Paul said that his father showed signs of recovering. It was only in the first week of December when Robinson Jr. suddenly had difficulty breathing while he was at his home in Skyline Hills. He later died there.
Paul was in disbelief when it happened. He described his father's final moments as 'out of the blue.'
The USATF (USA Track and Field) lamented the sudden loss of their former San Diego-Imperial Youth Track and Field Chair. During his term, Robinson Jr. spearheaded the mentorship program for youth athletes in the U.S. The USATF is the governing body for the track-and-field and other related events in the United States.
In 2000, Robinson Jr. was inducted into the USATF National Track and Field Hall of Fame. He was also installed in the San Diego Breitbard Hall of Fame and the CCCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1984 and 2007, respectively.
"I think that's one of the big things that drove him - was just wanting to achieve something very, very big, and setting it out there and making it happen," Paul commended what his father had accomplished.
Robinson Jr. started from scratch, from attending small training camps during high school. He first entered Samuel F.B. Morse High School. In college, he went to San Diego Mesa College before entering San Diego State University to pursue his dream of becoming a collegiate athlete in the long jump. He was later hailed as the 1970 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Champion in his category.
Before his bronze-gold stint in the Olympics, he became the champion in the Pan American Games in 1971, but he did not defend his title in 1975 after placing second.
Robinson Jr.'s feats were endless. He was always hungry to win. In 1977, he pocketed his first long jump award in the World Cup after dominating seven national long jump competitions. Out of the seven events that he had joined, six of them were held outdoor.
Robinson Jr. was declared the 1976-1978 top-ranked long jumper of all time, finishing with his career-best 27-4.75 in 1976.
After quitting as an athlete, Robinson Jr. came back to San Diego Mesa College, but this time, as a coach and a physical education teacher.
He survived many health problems in the past years, including a car accident in 2000 and a brain tumor just months before the accident.
Robinson Jr. retired in 2010 after 23 years of working as a mentor and a coach.
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