When Xander Schauffele was asked at the U.S. Open if he intended to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, he remained firmly on the fence. He complained that the logistics were tricky, the inability to attend the opening ceremony, and the lack of a true Olympic experience. He seemed conflicted if it would be worth the effort.
“You’re kind of locked down in your hotel. You can’t go and see other venues or events. In terms of an actual Olympics, obviously, you’re playing for some hardware, some gold medals and whatnot, but the overall experience, which I hear is really cool, isn’t going to be there in Japan this year,” he said at the time. “That would be a reason not to go, I’d say.”
But Schauffele eventually decided to represent the stars and stripes in the men’s competition, which begins Thursday (Wednesday night in the U.S.), at the East Course at Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama, about 35 miles northwest of downtown Tokyo, after having a conversation with his father and swing coach, Stefan.
“He said, ‘If I don’t go to the Olympics, will I regret my decision?’ ” Xander said.
The elder Schauffele was a decathlete hopeful, who dreamed of being a member of the “Aufbaukader,” the famed German national decathlon team. He began training in earnest in track and field when he was 18, shortly after the death of his grandfather, Richard, the 1935 German track and field champion.
But in November 1986, Stefan was struck by a drunk-driver head-on as he was en route to the training facility. His dream was shattered. A piece of windshield lodged in Stefan’s left eye, requiring six eye surgeries within a two-year period. It failed to repair his sight and left him in a dark place.
My dad’s dream of becoming an Olympic decathlete came to a sudden end in 1986 when a drunk driver crashed into his car. You can read more about his journey and why it means a lot for me to be here in Tokyo with him: https://t.co/k2LEV2Csta #Tokyo2020 @StefanSchauffe1 pic.twitter.com/yXHUajje8h
— Xander Schauffele (@XSchauffele) July 28, 2021
“The last memory of my Olympic dream was all the guys from the German decathlon team coming to my hospital room. It was an emotional farewell,” Stefan said in a story published at XanderSchauffele.com. “Everything was over – my independence, my new life, my track career, my plans, and all my dreams. I certainly had a death wish. Dark times. There was alcoholism, lots of recreational drugs, and other excesses before I came to my senses and learned to fully accept the new reality that presented itself. I decided to use the misfortune as inspiration for my future. I adopted an attitude that it couldn’t get any worse in life and that would mean from here on out it’s relatively speaking all good – no matter what happens.”
The Olympics are ingrained in the Schaufelle family story — Richard Schauffele was named the head judge for all track and field throwing disciplines at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Given the unusual circumstances of the Tokyo Olympics, which were delayed a year due to the global pandemic, athletes are only permitted one guest. Xander chose his father. That choice may sound obvious, but his mother, Ping-Yi Chen, was raised in Japan and has many relatives living in the Tokyo area. But he recognized that in some small way this was his father’s dream coming full circle. “He was supposed to make the team, but who knows,” Xander said.
“I became determined to ensure that my boys would find out how far they can go,” Stefan said. “In fact, I became obsessed with it.”
And so while Xander grew up dreaming of winning majors like Tiger Woods, Olympic gold would be “a big deal” to him and an even bigger achievement to his dad. No words were spoken but none were needed: Xander knows his father would’ve enjoyed partaking in the opening ceremonies.
“I think maybe he would have gotten emotional, just because it was a dream of his for so long, he put all his eggs in one basket for such a long time and it got taken away from him and he’s learned how to deal with that situation,” he said.
Xander has empathy for what his father endured. That’s why Schauffele already has begun thinking about making the next Olympics, scheduled for Paris in 2024, when perhaps circumstances will be different and he could bring his father to the opening ceremony or to watch the decathlon live.
“Hopefully I can qualify for another Olympics,” Xander said, “so he can experience that and I think that would mean a lot to him.”
