Singapore's Maximilian Maeder off to winning start in 2025, tops Spain kitefoiling competition
The Olympic bronze medallist retained his title and won the men’s kitefoiling event at Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta on Saturday (Apr 5).
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SINGAPORE: In his first competition of the year, Singapore’s star kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder started exactly how he ended 2024 - by winning.
The Olympic bronze medallist retained his title and won the men’s kitefoiling event at Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta in Palma, Mallorca, on Saturday (Apr 5).
He finished ahead of Italy’s Ricardo Pianosi and Austria’s Valentin Bontus.
Going into the medal series, the 18-year-old topped the fleet with 22 net points, ahead of Olympic gold medallist Bontus (55), and Pianosi (70).
Maeder needed to just win one race in the final series to take the championship and did so at the first time of asking.
The world’s top-ranked kitefoiler's form had a sensational run of form in 2024.
In August last year, he ended Singapore’s eight-year wait for an Olympic podium finish since swimmer Joseph Schooling won gold in 2016. Maeder, then 17, also became Singapore's youngest Olympic medallist.
He then went on to win four consecutive titles after his bronze showing in France, taking the Austrian leg of the KiteFoil World Series, the 2024 Formula Kite Asian Championships in Daishan, China, the Italian leg of the Kitefoil World Series and the Formula Youth European Championships in October.
