Singaporean Max Maeder has triumphed again in the KiteFoil World Series, becoming champion for the second consecutive year.
He regained the title after coming in first at the Italian leg of the competition.
The 18-year-old was racing at Poetto Beach on the Italian island of Sardina on Saturday (5 Oct), which was the medal series, according to the International Kiteboarding Association.
Thanks to his finishing as the top qualifier in the opening series, Maeder needed only one win in the grand final to win the leg.
He duly did this in his first race.
He came in ahead of Frenchman Axel Mazella, while Switzerland’s Gian Stragiotti took the bronze.
Source: International Kiteboarding Association on Facebook
With the win in the Italian leg, Maeder was crowned overall champion of this year’s KiteFoil World Series.
As he was also named champion in last year’s event, this is his second consecutive championship.
Source: International Kiteboarding Association on Facebook
It’s also his third title since winning bronze at the Paris Olympics, having won the Austrian leg of the World Series and the Formula Kite Asian Championships in China.
Maeder’s back-to-back championships came despite him intentionally slowing down during a race on Wednesday (2 Oct).
The International Kiteboarding Association said Maeder and Mazella were “locked in a match race” that day, and way ahead of Martin Dolenc of Croatia, who in turn was a long way ahead of the rest of the pack.
In the last 200m to the finish line, Maeder and Mazella slowed down while Dolenc approached from behind, with the three kitefoilers crossing the line one after another in a finish described as “the slowest finish imaginable in a Kitefoil World Series race”.
Source: International Kiteboarding Association on Facebook
The association said his actions represented “fair play and sportsmanship”.
Maeder later explained that he slowed down to “give the others a chance of getting a finish score”, saying:
As soon as the first person finishes, the timer starts ticking down and when the timer runs out, everyone else gets a DNF (did not finish) on the scores. We had managed to catch the right wind shifts in that crazy wind but the fleet was really spread out and it seemed right to give the others a chance of getting a finish, so the three of us agreed to slow down together.
He got the idea a week earlier from Italian Riccardo Pianosi, he added:
It was a nice idea that Ricky gave me and we’re here to have fun, right? We’re all here to learn and improve and it would be a shame if you get cut out of the results for no reason.
Maeder will next be in action at the Formula Kite Youth European Championships in Sardinia from 7 to 13 Oct.
Also read: Max Maeder & Olympic athletes cheered on by S’poreans during open-top bus celebratory parade
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Featured image adapted from International Kiteboarding Association on Facebook and Facebook.
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Singapore was not found on the list.