Robinson, who is known affectionately as ‘Popstar’ by the local Kelfit athletics group, which she trains with during the week, lived every bit up to that nickname at the national titles, held from November 27 to 30 at the Australian Institute of Sport, blitzing the field to win both the 100m and 200m national championships in the 12 year old girls division.
Add in a bronze after anchoring the Victorian team to third the the 4x100m relay, and it is a stunning medal haul that even the young gun, who has aspirations of becoming an Olympian, could barely believe.
“I didn't expect it at all,” she said of her achievements in the nation’s capital.
“Like, I thought I would do well, but I didn't expect that well.”
It is fitting that Robinson received a hero’s welcome when returning to school at Broadford Primary, boasting impressive hardware around her neck as she made her way through a guard of honour, as it was at school that her burgeoning athletics career took off.
As she explained, it was in a school run, where she managed to match it with the leaders as a youngster, that she discovered she might have a natural knack for speed.
“(I’ve been running) since I was in grade two,” Robinson said.
“We did maybe two laps around our school oval and I was keeping up with the leaders, which were grade six boys, so that’s how I started to find out I was fast.”
A push from her PE teacher, Ms Henry, saw Robinson compete in school athletics against the grade four group, despite being in grade three at the time, making her way to the regional round, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Multiple state titles and records have followed, with Robinson getting her first taste of national competition last year, although the experience wasn’t exactly a positive one.
A hamstring injury soured her campaign, with Robinson unable to compete to the best of her ability, although she still managed to help Victoria to bronze in the 4x100m relay.
But it is what made her 2025 tilt at nationals, her last as a primary school student, all the more sweet, with the young gun earning redemption with stunning performances.
Waltzing through the heats in both the 100m and 200m events, the 100m final was the first chance at a medal for Robinson.
Flying down the track, Robinson lunged for the line and stopped the clock in 12.30 seconds, a new personal best, claiming gold and her first national title by 0.05 seconds, validating all of the hard work she has put in training multiple times a week after school.
“I was very unsure, because the girl who came second was very close to me,” she said of the feeling when crossing the line.
“But all of my friends and my Vic teammates were like ‘you’ve got it’, but I still wasn’t sure.
“It felt really, really good, once I knew, and once I got the medal, it just (was a reward for) all that hard work.”
With the shackles released and a gold medal around her neck, attention turned to the 200m final, Robinson’s preferred event, and it was another masterclass from the sprinting prodigy.
Powering around the bend, Robinson had more of a margin to absorb the feeling at the finish this time, crossing the line in 25.53 seconds, the only athlete to break the 26-second barrier, to record another personal best and make it two national titles in a whirlwind week, a feat she can still scarcely believe.
“I was just in disbelief, because I was just like ‘I did it’,” she said of the emotion upon realising she had claimed the double.
“It still hasn’t really hit me yet that I’m national champion.”
