MAXIMUM SMILES

In Marseille, Maeder becomes youngest S’porean to win Olympic medal

- Kimberly Kwek

Even minutes after clinching a bronze in the Formula Kite event on Aug 9, few knew what the 17-year-old was feeling as he came onto the shore.

And it was only when the teenager shared a long hug with his mother Teng Hwee Keng that it was evident that the Singaporean athlete was hurting. No words were exchanged between the pair, only tears.

After composing himself, Maximilian said in the media mixed zone: "To be very, very frank, I'll speak the truth and say I haven't finished sulking but I'm putting a smile on right now, not because I have to but because of the way I feel.

"Perhaps in retrospect I may label more things correctly, however, right now I need to process everything that's going on because it's a lot." On his performance in the final series, he added: "That is for the performance analysis later on...

But the things that stand out to me are the fact that I have performed at a level where it's not completely sub-par. I'm not sulking because of the fact that I didn't do well, or I didn't perform at what I thought... I was capable of. It's definitely not that."

While what Maximilian achieved is no small feat - he is Singapore's youngest medallist at the Olympic Games the fiercely competitive teenager has high expectations of himself.