Max Maeder slows down during race to give others chance to get finishing score

Singapore's bronze Olympic medallist Max Maeder is no stranger to the adrenaline rush that comes in the heat of a race as the finishing line approaches.

In an act of sportsmanship, the 18-year-old, who is currently competing in the Kitefoil World Series Italy, decided to intentionally slow down his pace to give the other competitors a chance of getting a finishing score.

"Give others a chance of getting a finish score"

In a match on Oct. 2, Maeder and Axel Mazella, a French kite foiler and a three-time winner of the Kitefoil World Series, decided to "go slow" during the last 200 metres into the finish while Croatian foiler Martin Dolenc approached from behind.

The trio sailed across the finish line in close succession.

The International Kiteboarding Association dubbed it as the "slowest finish imaginable in a Kitefoil World Series race".

Maeder later shared that he "slowed down so [he] could give [the rest of the fleet] a chance of getting a finish score".

He added:

“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.”

"We're here to have fun"

The Olympian shared that he was given the idea a week prior by Italian kitesurfer Riccardo Pianosi when competing at the Italian Championships.

“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 opined.

Despite the unexpected finish, Maeder ended up ranking for the specific race.

He is currently sitting in second place with a total net score of 10 points, just one behind Mazella.

Top image via SingaporeSailing/Facebook and International Kiteboarding Association