Paris, France, August 10, 2024: Singapore’s teenage sailor Maximilian Maeder made history by winning a bronze medal in the Men's Kite event, bagging Singapore sailing's first ever Olympic medal.
On the last day of sailing at Marseille Arena on Friday, August 9, Maeder finished third behind Austria’s Valentin Bontus and Slovenia’s silver medal-winner Toni Vodisek.
“Congratulations to sailor Maximilian Maeder who has won Singapore a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the Singapore National Olympic Council posted.
“The 17-year-old has won Singapore's sixth ever Olympic medal, and Singapore sailing’s first ever medal at the Olympic Games. Thank you for flying our flag high Max.”
Maeder commented: "It'll take a little bit to process everything. I'm mainly grateful that everyone back at home had a blast from what I've heard, and they're very happy with how it turned out.
"I'm more than overjoyed to see that everyone had such a wonderful experience and everyone had a smile on their face back at home from me competing.
"In the end, that was the goal of my journey, and it'll continue to be the goal - to put a smile on people's faces through my own efforts in sport. It's a beautiful thing to see come true."
Kitesurfing was making its Olympic Games debut, which meant the medal was extra special.
"l'll be the first to say that even if we're not the orthodox and classic sailing class, I felt like we're slowly, slowly melting into the sailing community as well,” Maeder added.
“With every event that we participate in together with all the classes, the culture is beginning to share, and I feel that it's going to be good in the future.
"I feel that we're all a sailing sport here, and there's nothing holding us back from being part of the sailing family."
