Maximilian Maeder (born 12 September 2006) is a Singaporean

Formula Kite Formula Kite is the kitesurfing class chosen by World Sailing for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The class features a foil kite and a board with a hydrofoil. The equipment is not one-design, but instead competitors use their choice of approved producti ...

professional athlete. He is the reigning

World, Asiad, Asian and European champion. He holds the distinction of being the youngest winner in any Olympic sailing class competition, achieving this at the age of 16. Maeder competed at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in the inaugural Men's Formula Kite event, where he reached the finals and won the bronze medal, becoming the country's second

native-born ''Jus soli'' ( or , ), meaning 'right of soil', is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contrast to ''jus sanguinis'' ('right of blood') assoc ...

Olympic medalist. Maeder is also a three-time youth world sailing champion in consecutive years from 2021 to 2023 and won various open championships across Europe, Asia and Pan America. Since the 2021 European Championships, he has consistently secured podium finishes in every competition he has entered.

Early life

Maeder was born in Singapore to a family with mixed Eurasian heritage. His father, Valentin Maeder, is a Swiss German and his mother, Hwee Keng (née Teng) Maeder, is Singaporean Chinese. He is the eldest among his siblings and has two younger brothers. At the age of six, his father introduced him to

kiteboarding Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

before encouraging him to venture into kitefoiling, a more advanced form of the sport, when he was 10. By the age of 11, Maeder had already competed in his first competitive pro race.

Career

2018–2021: Early career and World No.1

Maeder's achievements began when he won his first competitive tournament in the Formula Kite Asian Championships at

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

in 2018. He later emerged victorious at various tournaments such as the 2021 Formula Kite Youth World Championships (U19), Formula Kite Individual European Championships, Youth Sailing World Championships and KiteFoil World Series. He also took part in his first Formula Kite World Championships in the same year, where he finished fifth. On 20 September 2021, Maeder achieved his highest IKA - Formula Kite men's ranking of World No.1.

2022: World Championships silver

In 2022, success continued to follow with his second Formula Kite Youth World Championships (U21), Youth Sailing World Championships and Formula Kite Individual European Championships titles, as well his first Formula Kite Asia-Pacific Championships, Formula Kite Pan American Championships and Semaine Olympique Francaise De Voile victories. In his second appearance at the Formula Kite World Championships, he finished as runner-up to Slovenia's

Toni Vodišek Toni Vodišek (born 7 June 2000) is a Slovenian kitesurfer. Vodišek won the Formula Kite World Championship in 2022. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the inaugural men's Formula Kite event, where he reached the finals and won the sil ...

2023: World and Asian Champions

In 2023, Maeder began his new season by winning the World Cup Series held on the Spanish island of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. In July, he achieved a significant milestone by capturing his third consecutive Formula Kite Youth World Championships victory. Additionally, in August, Maeder also secured his first Formula Kite World Championships title. This accomplishment came as he defeated his rival,

, and set a new record as the youngest winner in any Olympic sailing class competition, all at the age of 16. Maeder good form continued at the delayed

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

where he won Singapore's first gold medal at the quadrennial games. He finished the season strongly by winning the KiteFoil World Series and clinching his third Youth Sailing World Championships title.

2024: Consecutive World title and Olympic debut

Maeder, who was ranked 6th in the world at the time, opened the 2024 season by winning the European Championships. He followed this success with victories at the World Cup Series and the Semaine Olympique Française De Voile. In May, he claimed his second Formula Kite World Championships title by overcoming Italy's

Riccardo Pianosi Riccardo Pianosi (born 1 March 2005) is an Italian kitesurfer who competes in the Formula Kite category. He won two medals in the Formula Kite World Championship, in 2021 and 2024, and two medals in the Formula Kite European Championship, in 202 ...

, the world's top-ranked Formula Kite men's sailor, who finished in second place ahead of Austria's

Valentin Bontus Valentin Bontus (born 1 February 2001) is an Austrian kitesurfer. He competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the inaugural men's Formula Kite event, where he reached the finals and won the gold medal. Biography Bontus was born on 1 February 20 ...

. That same year, Maeder debuted at the

in Paris, competing in the Men's Formula Kite. There, he won a bronze medal on 9 August 2024, Singapore's National Day, becoming the youngest Olympic medalist of Singapore at the age of 17. In September, Maeder returns to competing, finishing first place in KiteFoil World Series Austria and 2024 KiteFoil Asian Championships in Daishan, China.

Business and industry endorsements

Maeder is endorsed by several

kitesurf Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, sn ...

and water sports gear companies such as Levitaz, WIP and Flysurfer. In 2024, he also helped the development of his foil and kite with Levitaz and Flysurfer. Maeder has represented Singaporean beverage brand, Yeo's (Yeo Hiap Seng), as a brand ambassador since 2022. He has appeared advertisements for the brand, including digital and physical advertisements for the brand's "New Pioneers" campaign prior the

olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

in 2024, as well as a special edition beverage can featuring Maeder.

Yeo's Yeo Hiap Seng Limited ( zh, t=楊協成, s=杨协成, p=Yáng Xiéchéng, poj=Iûⁿ Hia̍p-sêng, Commonly known as Yeo's) is a Singaporean beverage company. It operates as an investment holding company as well as a drink manufacturer in Sing ...

also hosted meet & greet sessions for fans of Maeder. Maeder's partnership with

aligned with a 3-year-sponsorship agreement with the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, founded by the son of the creator of Far East Organisation, which is the parent company of

. Maeder has represented Swiss watch brand, Norqain, as a brand ambassador since 2022. Singaporean bank, DBS, announced a four-and-a-half-year collaboration with Maeder. He has appeared in the brand's "Trust Your Spark" campaign in 2024, and took part in private and public engagement sessions hosted by DBS.

Personal life

Maeder was born on 12 September 2006 in Singapore to Valentin and Hwee Keng (née Teng) Maeder. His father is a Swiss, and his mother is a Chinese Singaporean. He has two younger brothers, Karl and Valentin Jr., who are respectively 2 and 9 years younger. Maeder grew up in a multilingual household; In addition to his native

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, Maeder also understands

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, German,

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

and French. He said that his linguistic abilities, particularly in Mandarin, are a result of his mother's persistent effort in ignoring anything he said in any language other than Mandarin. Maeder was

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

growing up. His family has a long association with water sports: His uncle Lorenz Mäder is a

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology clas ...

who also is the founder of the conservationist

dive resort Scuba diving tourism is the industry based on servicing the requirements of recreational divers at destinations other than where they live. It includes aspects of training, equipment sales, rental and service, guided experiences and environmental ...

Wakatobi in Southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Maeder's parents have helped manage the dive resort, with his mother, Hwee Keng Maeder, being on the board of Wakatobi. His father, Valentin Maeder is a glider pilot and water sports enthusiast. Maeder spent a large part of his early life in Wakatobi, and it is also where he first learnt

and kitefoiling. Although Maeder had

dual nationality Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one country under its nationality and citizenship law as a national or citizen of that country. There is no ...

of Swiss and Singaporean by birth, he chose to compete for Singapore at the age of 11. He compared the choice of what country to represent with choosing one cuisine to eat for the rest of his life. He stated, "It felt like choosing between chicken rice and

cheese fondue Fondue ( , , , ; ) is a Swiss dish of melted cheese and wine served in a communal pot ( or fondue pot) over a portable stove () heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread and sometimes vegetables or other foods into the che ...

" and it was a "easy choice" for him to pick chicken rice (standing for Singapore). His brother Karl Maeder is also a kitefoiler who is representing Switzerland and is on the Swiss Youth Kite Sailing team. 1 max maeder 2024

In his free time, Maeder enjoys

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

. Max enjoys a form of chess mode called "

chess puzzle A chess puzzle is a puzzle in which knowledge of the pieces and rules of chess is used to logically solve a chess-related problem. The history of chess puzzles reaches back to the Middle Ages and has since evolved. Usually the goal is to find th ...

s" and has told that his chess puzzle points on

Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...

is 2650. It is his superstition to base his performance in the race on how he did for his chess puzzles on the day. Maeder has been dating an unnamed Singaporean national swimmer since August 2024. In 2024, he was granted a deferment from his

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

(NS) obligations where he could continue to train and compete until after the

2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA 28, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place July 14–30, 2028, in the United States. Los Angeles ...

. After the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, Maeder and 9 other Singaporean Olympians participated in an open-top bus parade.

Awards and nominations

The list of nominations for awards received by and awards won by Maeder are as follows: * Nominated for

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

' Athlete of the Year 2021 * Nominated for

' Athlete of the Year 2022 * Won the SNOC Sportsboy of the Year 2022 * Won the SNOC Sportsboy of the Year 2023 * Nominated for Rolex

World Sailor of the Year The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

2023 * Won the SNOC Sportsboy of the Year 2024 * Won Young World Sailor of the Year 2024

Notes and references

External links

* *
Maximilian Maeder
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maeder, Maximilian 2006 births Living people Singaporean people of Swiss descent Singaporean people of German descent Kitesurfers Singaporean male sailors (sport) 21st-century Singaporean sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists for Singapore Asian Games gold medalists in sailing Sailors at the 2022 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Sailors at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Formula Kite Olympic sailors for Singapore Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in sailing Olympic bronze medalists for Singapore