Joe Rau likens his Olympic journey to the tale of the miner who never stopped chipping away with his axe and found gold.
"If you love wrestling and keep wrestling," he said, "you never know when you're going to strike gold."
A former Division III standout at Elmhurst, Rau said his journey is "proof of that." Still, he knows how close he was to quitting — multiple times — before he struck his gold.
It's why as an assistant wrestling coach at Northwestern who will compete in Greco-Roman wrestling in Paris, Rau channels his rich experiences into motivating the athletes he mentors.
"I see a lot of athletes, they go Division III or they go junior college, and it really gets in their head. They say, 'I'm just a Division III athlete. I'd I love to go to the Olympics, but I'm just a Division III athlete,'" Rau said. "I say don't put a governor on your success or your training just because you're in a certain division."
Rau's wrestling journey began as a random suggestion. As a scrappy Chicago kid prone to fights over pickup football and basketball games, his neighbor suggested wrestling might be a better outlet for his energy. Starting at 6 years old, Rau quickly found his passion, but his path was far from smooth. At St. Patrick High School, he reached the state meet multiple times, but the lack of recruitment from Division I schools was a hard pill to swallow.
Rau, a former Division III standout at Elmhurst, nearly quit wrestling multiple times in his career but now uses his journey of persistence as a motivation example as an assistant coach at Northwestern. (Photo courtesy of USA Wrestling)
"It was pretty crushing at first," Rau said. "I questioned whether or not I was going to wrestle in college at all. At one point, I was thinking about going to the Army. At one point, I dropped out of Elmhurst College three days in orientation, and luckily I decided to come back a couple days later."
The decision to stay at Elmhurst marked the beginning of Rau's persistent path to Paris. There, he became a two-time College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champion and finished his career with an overall record of 121-22, which ranks second in school history for all-time victories. Rau won the Division III title at 184 pounds during the 2012-13 season, leading the Bluejays to a second-place national finish as a team.
"I think there's so many advantages to that journey," he said. "I had to find my own way."
Before Rau broke through to the Olympics, his post-collegiate career in Greco-Roman wrestling was already decorated. Winning the 2016 U.S. Open and the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials Championship were significant milestones, but his weight class didn't qualify for the Olympics.
Rau almost walked away from the sport again, however, after another attempt at qualifying for the Olympics came up short. In a particularly painful experience, he ended up losing an arbitration case connected to the officiating of the title match he lost in the U.S. trials for the Tokyo Games.
"I told myself I'd never do this again, but here we are," Rau said.
Despite the hardships, Rau never lost sight of his goals. His experiences have shaped his approach to coaching, where he emphasizes the importance of perseverance and self-belief. Rau encourages his athletes to push beyond the limitations imposed by their circumstances and to recognize their inherent value beyond their athletic achievements.
Rau's other main message to athletes is clear: success is not binary. The journey is as important as the destination, and setbacks are opportunities for growth. His own career, marked by moments of walking away and then achieving significant victories, serves as a testament to this belief.
"I wish I could achieve this without those moments, but now I look back that the hard times are what I'm most proud of. The winning is really cool in the moment, but looking back at the hard times, that's really what I'm proud of," he said. "I always go back to that analogy of a miner with a pickax who stops one chip away from a bunch of gold or diamonds.
"I did become an Olympian, and this journey all wasn't for nothing."
Rau will compete at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of USA Wrestling)
