PARIS: Singapore’s world champion, Maximilian Maeder, kicked off his Olympic campaign with a strong performance on Sunday (Aug 4), placing third overall in the fleet after the first four races.
Singapore kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder is gunning for glory at the Olympic Games. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Competing at the Marseille Marina, Maeder has accumulated eight net points, trailing Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek (six points) and Austria’s Valentin Bontus (also eight points but ranked higher). Maeder’s results include a fifth-place finish in his first race, a win in the second, second place in the third race, and a did-not-finish (DNF) in the fourth.
The Olympic kitefoiling event features up to 16 fleet races from Saturday to Wednesday, followed by medal races on Thursday. Points are awarded based on finishing positions, with lower scores being better. The top two competitors advance directly to the final, while those ranked third to tenth compete in semi-finals for the remaining spots.
In the final, competitors need three race wins to secure gold. The top kitefoiler from the opening series starts with two wins and needs only one more to take gold. The runner-up needs two wins, while semi-final winners require all three wins.
Maximilian Maeder, who successfully defended his world title in May and won gold at last year’s Sailing World Championships, is a strong contender in this event. Born in Singapore, Maeder began kiteboarding at six and transitioned to kitefoiling, a discipline of kitesurfing where a hydrofoil board is used.
Kiteboarding, recognized by the International Kiteboarding Association since 2008, makes its Olympic debut in Paris 2024 in the Formula Kite class.