“My dad slept with it, shirtless” – When Xander Schauffele revealed how the Schauffele household dealt with a ‘guacamole stained’ Olympic gold medal
Xander Schauffele, who will be representing Team USA in golf at the 2024 Paris Olympics, won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He emerged victorious in the men's individual stroke play event, beating Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia by one stroke.
Schauffele's victory was particularly special for his dad, Stefan. Stefan once dreamt of representing Germany at the Olympics as a decathlete, but a car accident shattered his dreams. However, when his son clinched the medal, Stefan was on cloud nine and even slept with it. Interestingly, he sometimes even carried it to dinner.
His son Xander revealed in an interview with the media that he was very fond of the medal and wore it everywhere. He added that the medal even got some guacamole stains, which his mother removed. Speaking of his father back in 2021, the American golfer said (via PGA Tour):
"My dad slept with it, shirtless, I think, the first night. The first night it was ever in our care. I don't know if that's really taking great care of it, but my parents have it all the time.”
“There was a guac[amole] stain somewhere on it - and my mom got that out obviously - from my dad eating some sort of California burrito or something. I don't know. But something happened," he added.
Schauffele is gearing up for this year's Paris Olympics with a pretty successful year on tour so far. He has won two major tournaments this season, the PGA Championship and The Open, and looks to be in good form to reclaim the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Xander Schauffele reveals he doesn't keep any of his trophies
Xander Schauffele won the second Major of his career at Royal Troon last week. His father, Stefan, was there to watch his son win the Claret Jug and celebrate the victory with him.
The Open recently released a video of Schauffele and his father after winning The Open Championship, in which the American golfer shared that he doesn’t have any of his trophies as his parents keep them. Schauffele said (via The Open on Instagram):
"Oh, I don't hold any of my trophies. My parents will take it."
In a humorous exchange, Stefan interjected at this point, saying :
"The trophies are in a very safe place. And Xander has none of them."
Schauffele's dad is very fond of his son's trophies and medals. Interestingly, he even has a picture of himself wearing Xander's gold medal, which he shared on his Instagram account in 2021. Stefan wrote in the caption that he might never give the medal back to his son.
"I might never give this one back to you @xanderschauffele," Stefan wrote.
Having turned pro in 2015, Xander Schauffele has won 12 professional events. Fresh off his Open Championship win, which included a bogey-free final day, he will now head for the Paris Olympics. Along with Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, and Wyndham Clark will play men's golf for Team USA at the Paris Olympics.