SINGAPORE: To cap what is the best year of his life—so far, because he just turned 18—Maximilian Maeder has just been named the male Young World Sailor of the Year.
The kitefoiler had pledged to work at the stall serving curry puffs if he won the award, and is ready to fulfil the promise he made on Oct 23 upon receiving S$250,000 from the Singapore National Olympic Council for his win on Aug 9.
“I’m a man of my word… I’ll be there as early as I can and as long as I can. They have some very, very good curry puffs, and I’ve enjoyed it every time I’m there so I had to pick that one.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get my food hygiene certificate in time (to make the curry puffs), but I do get to serve them to customers and thank everyone for their support,” The Straits Times quotes Maeder as saying.
The teen’s World Sailing Awards trophy is a first for any Singaporean.
The award was open to athletes under 21, and Maeder bested Denmark’s Magnus Overbeck, Australia’s Grae Morris, and Italy’s Vittorio Bonifacio for the title.
And now he’s just about to serve some curry puffs!
“I’m bubbly, I’m happy, and I have a big smile on my face, as you can see.
It’s great to encourage and invigorate and have a milestone like that, and I’m so happy; I feel privileged to be able to receive the award tonight,” he expressed his excitement.
After giving Singapore a birthday gift when Maeder won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics for the Men’s Formula Kite event on Aug 9, he went on to rack up four gold medals in a row.
On Sept 8, the Singaporean kitesurfer emerged as champion after winning 11 out of 12 races at the Austrian leg of the IKA KiteFoil World Series at Lake Traunsee.
Later that month, he took home his next gold at the 2024 Formula Kite Asian Championships in Daishan, China.
On Oct 5, Maeder made it a three-peat, winning the overall title at the World Series on the final day at Kitefoil World Series, in Sardinia, Italy.
Most recently, he ended the season with his fourth gold after winning eight of the 13 races at the Formula Kite Youth European Championships in Sardinia on Oct 13.
Maeder also received a nomination for Male Sailor of the Year last year.
The featured image above is from Team Singapore’s Instagram post. /TISG
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