Richard "Molly" Schauffele (26 January 1903 in

Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's ...

– 5 February 1983 in Stuttgart) was a German

track athlete Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, politician and

sports personality An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

Life

In his youth up to his mid-twenties the civil engineer by trade played soccer for the

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

. At the age of 25, Schauffele switched over to

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

and never looked back. From 1919 to 1927 Schauffele played soccer on the first squad of the

. 1927 Schauffele won the Southern German championship title with the VfB Stuttgart. However, the team failed to reach the finals for the German championships. 1927 marked the end of Schauffele's soccer career, who from hereon forward focused on developing his talents in the throwing disciplines of track and field. At a height of 6'8" Schauffele was a giant of his time and an exceptionally gifted athlete. He successfully competed in national championships up to the age of 40 and was able to garner 32 state and regional championship titles in discus, javelin, shot-put and ball throwing (now no longer a competitive discipline). In 1935 Schauffele's efforts were rewarded when winning the German national team title with the

Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. History In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...

. Schauffele's great-grandson,

Xander Xander is an abbreviated form of the name Alexander and pronounced like "Zander". Alexander is the Latin form of the Greek name "Alexandros". The name's meaning is interpreted from "alexein" which means "to defend" plus "andros" which translates to ...

, won the gold medal in men's golf at the

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in 2021.

Positions and responsibilities

* From 1948 to 1950 Schauffele was president of the

. * In the years 1951–1954, as well as 1959–1965 Schauffele was a founding member, chairman and president of the Wuerttemberg Athletic Federation (WLV). * Beginning in 1954 up until his death in 1983 Schauffele held the title of "honorary president" of the WLV. Schauffele was instrumental in installing the first tartan track in Germany in the Stuttgart Stadium, thus attracting large international track and field competitions to Stuttgart. * In 1959 Schauffele was elected to the Stuttgart city council, where under the city's legendary lord mayor Arnulf Klett he was acting vice mayor.

Achievements in sports

* 1927 Southern German soccer champion with the VfB Stuttgart * 1935 German Track and field team champion with the Stuttgarter Kickers * 32x track and field titles in shot-put, discus, javelin and ball throw * 1936 head judge for all track and field throwing disciplines at the Olympic games in Berlin

Accolades

* 1950

German Athletics Association The German Athletics Association (German: ''Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband'', DLV) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Germany. Since 2010, Germany's kits are supplied by Nike. See also *German Athletics Championships * East Ge ...

(DLV) "Pin of honor" in Gold * 1965

(DLV) "Hanns Braun Memorial Prize" * 1970

(DLV) "Ring of honor" * 1976 Distinguished Service Order of the state

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Landesordensträger des Landes Baden-Württemberg
/ref> * honorary naming of the Olympic training center Stuttgart to "Molly Schauffele Sporthalle"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schauffele, Richard German footballers VfB Stuttgart players Stuttgarter Kickers players German city councillors Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg 1903 births 1983 deaths Association football forwards