Maximilian Maeder Wins Singapore 1st Gold Medal In Sailing At Asian Games 2023
Young sailor Maximilian Maeder is just fresh off winning a world championship, but he isn’t stopping there as he conquered his debut Asian Games with Singapore’s first gold medal in Hangzhou.
The kitefoiling prodigy finished first in the men’s Formula Kite competition at the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre on Wednesday (27 Sep).
He won every single one of the 16 races he’d taken part in before the medal series.
As the medal series was cancelled due to weak winds, Maeder was awarded gold with 13 net points.
His compatriot Ryan Lo also secured Singapore’s second gold medal at the Asian Games on Wednesday, while Victoria Chan took home a bronze.
Maximilian Maeder clinches gold medal in debut Asian Games
Maeder’s gold medal came following 16 straight victories to reach the final, which would have taken place today.
Source: @worldsailingofficial on Instagram
Clinching silver was China’s Zhang Haoran with 26 points, and Thailand’s Joseph Jonathan Weston came third with 38 points.
Maeder told Channel NewsAsia (CNA) prior to the Asian Games that he wanted to focus on performances over results at the event.
“Having the pressure of results not being your way or being better than you expected . . . always causes certain issues,” he’d said.
“You would want to bring the best performance that you can, and looking back at the day, are you happy with it?” added the 17-year-old.
Could you have brought something better, and could you have done something different — things like that. So I want to come back every day from the water and say: ‘Yeah, I’m satisfied with that.’
Maeder has secured a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics, making it his next target after his triumph today.
Ryan Lo gets first personal gold medal after three tries
Lo also broke a milestone in Hangzhou, having clinched the bronze medal twice previously in 2010 and 2018.
The 26-year-old won the men’s ILCA7 event with 26 net points after 11 races. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Ha Jee-min won silver with 33 points.
Behind them was India’s Vishnu Saravanan, who clinched 34 points.
Like Maeder, Lo earned an Olympics quota spot for the 2024 Paris games.
After both of their gold medals, Singapore now has a combined total of seven sailing medals — two golds, two silvers, and three bronzes.
Kimberly Ong also secured a bronze for Wushu in the women’s changquan event on Monday (25 Sep), taking our total medal tally to eight.
Congratulations to all of our athletes at the Games and may they continue to do Singapore proud.
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Featured image adapted from @worldsailingofficial on Instagram and Singapore Sailing Federation.
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