PARIS: A day on from his historic achievement at the Marseille Marina, 17-year-old Maximilian Maeder said that he had been overwhelmed by the reaction to his Olympic medal. "I was blown away by just how much was celebrated," he told CNA on Saturday (Aug 10). "Completely blew away my expectations; it was such a pleasant surprise.
I'm glad everyone really enjoyed it the way they did." Maeder, a back-to-back world champion, finished third overall in the men's kite foiling event on Friday. This ended Singapore’s eight-year wait for an Olympic podium finish since swimmer Joseph Schooling won gold in 2016.
Maeder, 17, is now also Singapore's youngest Olympic medallist. A SENSE OF CONNECTION Friday was an emotional day, not just for those watching on but for Maeder himself. After competing in his final race, there were tears as he hugged his mother, before he composed himself and spoke to the press.
“I'll speak the truth and say I haven't finished sulking, but I'm putting a smile on now," he said previously. "Not because I have to, but because of the way I feel and ..
. I still need to process everything that's going on because, yeah, it's a lot." He elaborated on these feelings 24 hours later and said they were related to how the race had gone.
Being competitive, his comments were something that happened "impulsively." "It wasn't all positive, but it was strictly related to what happened on the water," he explained. "This was all before I had the knowledge of how it went in general and how people felt about it, and what actually I was able to bring for everyone else.
" Ultimately what is "way more important" is what happened after the outcome of the race, Maeder said. "(It's) of course ..
. the positivity, and the joy and the celebration," added In sport, he said, one is "forced to compete through comparison". But the standard he holds himself to comes from within.
"You prepare for certain things, you plan for certain things. And the biggest thing is: Can you repeat what has happened? And can you follow what you planned ahead for?" he explained. "It's about how well you planned for it, how well did you prepare, and how well did you actually make it come true.
" And rather than feeling like he had let others down, if anything, it was more a sense of how much happier they could have been, Maeder added. "That didn't impact me as negatively as the standards I hold myself to," Maeder added. "I was thinking about that less .
.. It's comes afterwards, it's not a main thought of why I felt bad, it was a small part of it after everything else, maybe if at all.
" BUSINESS AS USUAL As public expectations turn to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and, naturally, a medal of perhaps a different sheen, Maeder is staying grounded. For now, it's "business as usual." "I plan to continue competing, I plan to continue training, and I hope to be able to, in a small way, replicate something similar to what has occurred in the past few days," he added.
"It doesn't have to be on the same scale, but in a way where I can bring a smile or joy to people's faces that follow me, that support me, that help me through my own efforts in sport. "I have said multiple times that it is one of the main goals I have and it will continue to be one of the main goals I have." From a technical standpoint, Maeder wants to raise the bar.
"I can continue learning, I can continue improving," he said. "What we are doing so far works well, we just have to refine and improve it." If he had to summarise his Olympics experience, "connection" is the word that comes to mind "You don't get to share your journey, your story, your performance, the emotions, the sport with as many people at the World Championships as you do at the Olympic Games," Maeder said when asked to compare the two events.
"This connection is so special at the Olympic Games. That's what stood out to me as different. It's this beautiful sense of shared sporting beauty.
".
