Five things about gold medal hopeful Maximilian Maeder
It has been eight years since a Singaporean last tasted glory at the Olympics in 2016, when swimmer Joseph Schooling clinched the Republic’s first gold medal at the quadrennial Games.
Now, kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder is a favourite to emulate Schooling’s feat and become Singapore’s youngest Olympic medallist at the age of 17. Who is this teenager taking the sport by storm?
1. Serial winner
Winning is something that Max has done since young. The teenager emerged victorious for his first world youth championship in 2021, when he was 14. He has since claimed the title two more times.
He continued his dominance at the senior level, becoming the youngest world champion of an Olympic sailing class after winning in 2023, before retaining it a year later. His achievements include a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, as well as winning every trophy on offer this season.
2. A nomadic childhood
Max’s father, Valentin, is Swiss and his mother, Teng Hwee Keng is from Singapore. He spent the majority of his childhood in Switzerland, Singapore and the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, where his parents built the Wakatobi Dive Resort.
He is the oldest of three boys, with younger brother Karl also a competitive kitefoiler. The 15-year-old came in 18th in the second-tier silver flight category at the 2024 Formula Kite European Championships in March.
3. Early love affair with sport
Max’s competitiveness was evident when he started his sporting pursuits. Aged just four, he first began participating in ski races. His father revealed in an earlier interview that whenever he failed to win, he would often look back and reflect on what went wrong.
Valentin introduced him to kiteboarding when he was six years old, before he switched to kitefoiling four years later. An 11-year-old Maximilian had big goals then, declaring that he wanted to become a world champion, a dream he ultimately fulfilled.
4. Being independent
Owing to his competition schedule, Max does spend much time in Singapore. He spends part of each year training in Croatia, where his training partner and coach are from. He also trains in Egypt, Italy, Brazil, China, France and Spain.
As a result of his time spent overseas, he has learnt to be independent and is mature beyond his years.
5. He loves… curry puff
Like many Singaporeans, Max loves his food and his favourite local dishes include chicken rice. If he had to pick one though, it is definitely curry puffs. He revealed that in 2020, he learnt how to make them from his mother so he could still enjoy the snack while travelling.
He can devour 10 to 12 curry puffs over two days and is very particular about how they are made. The curry puff must be bigger than average, over-stuffed with a spicy filling of curry and soft potatoes, and preferably homemade.
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