From 'big potential' to Olympic medallist: Max Maeder's coach believes teen kitefoiler will only get better

MARSEILLE: Years before a Singaporean teenager stood on an Olympic podium last Friday (Aug 9), a Croatian kitefoiling coach thought he'd spotted something special.

"You could see from the early beginnings that he's showing potential, big potential," said Ivica Dolenc, who trains Paris 2024 bronze medallist Maximilian Maeder.

Success in sport requires a "formula" of maybe 10 to 15 factors, of which a crucial one is cognitive ability - and which Maeder, now 17, scores "very, very high" on, Dolenc told CNA. 

Known by some as Johnny, he has coached Maeder since he was 14. And when the Singaporean trains in Croatia, he stays with the Dolencs. "Max is like a member of our family more or less," said his coach, whose son Martin is also a kitefoiler and finished 14th at the Paris Olympics.

From Dolenc's vantage position, a number of factors complicated Maeder's pursuit of a medal at the recently completed Games.

For one, there were fewer races in the opening series, compared with typical kitefoiling competitions where up to 20 are contested. 

Given consistently poor wind conditions at the Marseille Marina, Maeder and the rest of the fleet only competed in seven races - out of a possible 16 - before the final.

This "didn't allow us to show everything we can do", said Dolenc.

The final, which was scheduled to be completed on Thursday, required an extra day of racing due to a lack of wind. Even then, there was a considerable delay before riders finally took to the water on Friday.

It was the first time Maeder faced such a situation - two days of racing for a medal.

"There was a lot, with wind coming up and down. This (left) a mark on us for sure," added his coach Dolenc.

When the first race of Friday was flagged off, it was Maeder who started