It might be tempting to view Jack Robinson winning an Olympics surfing silver medal, Australia’s second medal in the sport since it was added at the last Games, as the culmination of a destiny foretold. But this is a tale far more complex and impressive than that.
Robinson, 26, has been surfing since he could walk, on fearsome Western Australian waves. Before he was even a teen, he had signed a big sponsorship deal and been declared “the next Kelly Slater”. As a youngster, he was one of the best barrel riders in the world before reaching adulthood. A World Surf League title seemed inevitable – with Robinson the successor to a longstanding Australian legacy in world surfing, following in the footsteps of the likes of Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson.
But few sporting journeys are linear. And while winning silver at Teahupo’o – beaten only by local charger Kauli Vaast in the final – was the natural evolution of Robinson’s surfing success, it is a triumph that seemed distant when the Australian walked away from the sport six years ago.
For natural surfing ability is not enough to win gold medals and world titles. Some of the best surfers in the world falter in the heat of competition. And after a childhood anointed as the prodigy, the next big thing, competitive life was an adjustment for Robinson. Almost an adjustment too far.
In 2018, Robinson, 20 at the time, just missed out on qualifying for the WSL, the top tier of competitive surfing. The second tier, the qualifying series, is fought out in variable conditions in waves around the world. It is a slog – travelling around the world, battling in subpar waves.
For a surfer reared on some of the best breaks in the world, it came as a shock. “I think my view on it wasn’t very good – especially when the waves were shitty,” Robinson once recalled. There were also some complex family dynamics – at the time Robinson travelled with his father, who served as a coach, commercial manager and confidante.
And so Robinson took a break from the sport. Plenty of top surfers have quit the competitive circuit and instead earned a living free-surfing, through sponsorship deals. For a moment, the next big thing, a surfer who grew up idolising three-time world champion Andy Irons, was on the verge of walking a very different path.
Until suddenly things fell into place – thanks in part to his now-wife, Julia Muniz, who Robinson credits for helping change his mindset. In 2019, the Australian qualified for the WSL. In his first four years on tour, Robinson has already won seven events. He is currently ranked third in the world with one event remaining before the finals. It seems only a matter of time before Robinson becomes a world champion.
On Monday, surfing for an Olympic medal, Robinson thought back to those childhood memories. “I remember when I was little how much I looked up to Andy [Irons],” he said afterwards. “I imagined myself doing it for that little kid who was inspired or motivated to be here one day on this platform. You get those flashbacks.”
If there is any disappointment in Robinson’s silver (three years after Owen Wright won bronze for Australia in Tokyo), it is that the conditions did not cooperate. Following some big swell earlier in the Olympic window, Monday’s finals were not held in the waves for which Teahupo’o is renowned. Local star Vaast is a deserving winner – his wave knowledge is second to none. But a shootout in big barrels between Vaast and Robinson would have been a more fitting denouement to an event that has otherwise done plenty to justify surfing’s continued place on the Olympic schedule.
Silver is nonetheless a superb achievement for Robinson – and an achievement that looked unlikely when he failed to qualify for the WSL in 2018. Speaking to Guardian Australia two years ago, reflecting on his time in the surfing wilderness, Robinson admitted he had felt the weight of expectations – a sense that “you’ve got to prove yourself”. The Australian conceded that the pressure had got to him: “You can get caught up in that,” he said. Yet Robinson never lost his self-belief. “But in the end, I know I’ve got what it takes. I’ve got the talent, I have the package, it’s just about putting it together.”
In Tahiti, and in recent years on the WSL, Robinson has put it together. An Olympic medal is a fitting reward for a journey with more twists and turns that were expected when the prodigy was first declared to be the next generational surfer. Robinson has now come of age, and more medals and a first WSL title would not be unexpected in the years ahead.
But Robinson’s difficult years on the qualification circuit and his time away from the sport taught him a valuable lesson, a lesson he seems to have embraced in recent years. “You can get ahead of yourself – you want to win everything,” he said. “It’s about enjoying the ride, too.”