A bronze that excites, inspires and brings pride to Singaporeans

First there was silence, a palpable sense of deflation in the air that the gold medal had not gone to Singapore.

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But as soon as Maximilian Maeder finished his race to confirm himself as Singapore's youngest Olympic medallist after clinching bronze, the cheers erupted from the roughly 60 supporters gathered at the National Sailing Centre (NSC) at East Coast Park for a watch party on Aug 9.

Members of the public, national athletes and those from the sailing fraternity applauded in unison, swung their flags to showcase their pride in the 17year-old's performance thousands of kilometres away at the Marseille Marina.

Maximilian, a two-time world champion and one of the precompetition favourites, finished third in the men's kitefoiling event at the Paris Olympics, ending Singapore's eight-year wait for a podium finish at the Games since swimmer Joseph Schooling captured a historic gold at Rio 2016.

The crowd inside the sheltered hall may have wished and prayed for gold from Maximilian, but there was still plenty of pride and admiration at the bronze.

Austrian Valentin Bontus, who won the decisive Race 3 in the final, took gold while Slovenia's Toni Vodisek clinched silver.