“I’m not a celebrity. I'm just someone who likes doing kitefoiling and perhaps in Singapore has gotten a little bit more attention than usual, but I think it's nothing crazy," said the well-spoken teenager.
"I get to speak about what I find nice about this sport and how I can bring value to more people.
"But in the end ... it still doesn't distract me; the amount of things I do still doesn't distract me from quality training and quality improvement in preparation."
Maeder’s achievements in recent times are certainly eye-catching.
In May, he successfully defended his kitefoiling crown at the world championships - the fifth event he's won in a row.
At the Singapore Sports Awards on Jun 3, the Asian Games gold medalist won the Sportsboy of the Year honour for the third consecutive time.
Now ranked third in the world, Maeder will be a medal contender when kitefoiling makes its Olympics debut come August.
Singapore has not clinched an Olympic medal in eight years, since Joseph Schooling took gold in the 100m butterfly at Rio 2016.
Maeder, however, isn't too concerned about being labelled a favourite. It's a "fair assessment" but not something he has internalised.
“I hear it, I see it, and I'm glad that that everyone holds up the high opinion of me, but the way I see it is that margins are small,” he added.
“Fortune smiled upon me during during the times where it had to and I think that's there's always a little bit more that you can do and a little bit better that you can be.”
Continue reading...
"I get to speak about what I find nice about this sport and how I can bring value to more people.
"But in the end ... it still doesn't distract me; the amount of things I do still doesn't distract me from quality training and quality improvement in preparation."
"FORTUNE SMILED UPON ME"
Maeder’s achievements in recent times are certainly eye-catching.
In May, he successfully defended his kitefoiling crown at the world championships - the fifth event he's won in a row.
At the Singapore Sports Awards on Jun 3, the Asian Games gold medalist won the Sportsboy of the Year honour for the third consecutive time.
Now ranked third in the world, Maeder will be a medal contender when kitefoiling makes its Olympics debut come August.
Singapore has not clinched an Olympic medal in eight years, since Joseph Schooling took gold in the 100m butterfly at Rio 2016.
Maeder, however, isn't too concerned about being labelled a favourite. It's a "fair assessment" but not something he has internalised.
“I hear it, I see it, and I'm glad that that everyone holds up the high opinion of me, but the way I see it is that margins are small,” he added.
“Fortune smiled upon me during during the times where it had to and I think that's there's always a little bit more that you can do and a little bit better that you can be.”
Continue reading...