Few people were surprised when 24-year old Donny Robinson was selected for the third, and final, position on the debut U.S. Olympic BMX team. Robinson was already widely recognized as one of the most aggressive riders in BMX racing.
Donny Robinson's Riding Career and Injuries
Donny Robinson began riding at the age of five and had his first national level win at age eight. He turned pro in 2002, at the age of 18. His aggressive riding style was noted early on and by April of 2002 he broke his thumb and dislocated his wrist, requiring surgery. He was out of racing for the next six months and finally returned to racing that November. It wasn’t the most ideal way to spend his first year as a pro BMX racer. Despite the setback, within four years of turning pro Robinson won the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup.
BMX Titles and Championships for dR
Robinson, a devout Christian, is also known as “dR”. The lower case d is representative of his small stature. At 5’5”, Robinson is smaller than many riders, a fact that he makes up for with speed and skill. Robinson, who currently rides for Hyper Bikes has accumulated a large number of wins during his career. In addition to the UCI Supercross World Cup, he has an NBL National Elite Men’s title and was Transworld’s NORA Cup Racer of the Year. In June 2007 at the inaugural U.S. National Championships of BMX, Robinson brought home the gold medal. That may have been the beginning of his medal hopes.
Olympic BMX Racing
The announcement that BMX racing would debut as an Olympic event led to an exciting time in BMX racing. Riders throughout the world dedicated themselves to riding stronger and faster in the hopes of becoming one of the few who would be chosen to represent their countries. Donny Robinson was one of those hopeful racers. Although the U.S. team was only selecting three riders for its team, it was a common expectation among BMX followers that Robinson would earn one of those spots. He was, after all, the world’s top-ranked BMX racer. Kyle Bennett claimed the first spot on the Olympic team. Mike Day earned the second spot at the Olympic qualifiers in Chula Vista, CA. The third team member was to be picked by coaches and on June 25, 2008, coach Mike King announced that Robinson would had been selected to represent the U.S. in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
The Face of BMX?
In addition to the excitement of the Olympics, and being on the first U.S. BMX team, Robinson also had the opportunity to be featured in a number of ad campaigns for Olympic sponsors. Robinson was featured in ads and commercials for McDonalds, AT&T, and Kellogg’s. Awareness of BMX racing was growing and now it had a face for mainstream America to identify with.
Robinson gave his all during the semifinals and even crashed in the third semifinal round. He went on to win the bronze medal for the U.S. team, finishing behind Maris Stromberg of Latvia and teammate Mike Day.
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