SG’s Olympic medal hopeful Max Maeder, 17, learnt how to make curry puffs from his mum so he can have them when he’s overseas

It has been eight years since Singapore last won an Olympic medal. A then 21-year-old Joseph Schooling made history and became the toast of the nation by winning gold in the 100m butterfly at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
This year, another impressive young athlete has emerged and he becomes Singapore’s best hope at taking home a medal at the ongoing Paris Olympics.
17-year-old Maximilian Maeder, who has a Swiss father and Singaporean mother, is representing the country in the kitefoiling event. His run at the Olympics began on Sunday, and he currently sits at third place in the fleet after four races.
The kitefoiling races, which take place at the Marseille Marina, will carry on until Wednesday, before the medals are contested on Thursday (Aug 8).
Should he make it to the podium, Max will become Singapore’s youngest Olympic medallist.
Kitefoiling is a style of kitesurfing or kiteboarding — a category of sport where the rider is pulled along using the wind power of a kite. 
The International Kiteboarding Association was founded in 2008 and the sport first appeared in the Youth Olympic Games in 2018. This year’s games see kitefoiling’s debut as an Olympic sport.
Kitefoilers can reach speeds of 70km/h on their hydrofoil boards, where they look like they are gliding above water.
Max was just four when he began competing in ski races. His father, Valentin, introduced him to kiteboarding at six, and he began specialising in kitefoiling four years after that.  
At 14, he won his first world youth championship, and would go on to achieve the same feat twice. 
Max is now a two-time kitefoiling world champ. He won the men’s kite event at the Sailing World Championships last August, and defended the title just three months ago. 
He also won gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. 
Most of Max’s childhood was spent between Switzerland, Singapore and Indonesia. His parents own the Watakobi Dive Resort in Sulawesi, Indonesia. 
Max was only 11 when he started travelling to different countries alone for training and competitions. His kitefoiling training takes place in countries such as Egypt, Italy, Brazil, China, and Croatia, which is where his coach and training partner are from.
The athlete, who was trained to be independent from a young age, is the oldest of three kids. He has two younger brothers, Karl, 15, and Valentin Jr, nine. Influenced by their father’s love of sports, Karl, too, is a competitive kitefoiler who competes for Switzerland. 
In an earlier interview, Max shared about his love for local food, which include chicken rice and curry puffs. He learnt how to make curry puffs from his mother, just so he could have the snack when he’s based in another country. He also revealed that he can finish 10 to 12 curry puffs in two days.
Here’s wishing Max all the best as as he gears up for his final race later this week.
Photos: Mediacorp/ Instagram

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