The Straits Times Podcasts S1E17: Raising an Olympian in Singapore
What does it take for parents to nurture an athlete who wants to reach sport’s pinnacle?
Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second Wednesday of the month.
The Olympics is just around the corner and come July, several Team Singapore athletes will fly the flag for the Republic in Paris. Two of them, kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder and Singapore kayaker Stephenie Chen will make their Olympics debut.
Beyond their individual hustle to get to sports’ grandest stage, Maeder's and Chen’s journey to the Olympics has been helped by their families' relentless support.
In this episode, Maximilian’s parents Valentin Maeder and Hwee Keng and Michael Chen and Sarah-Yvonne, parents of Stephenie, join sports reporter Deepanraj Ganesan to talk about how they have supported their children’s aspirations.
Highlights (click/tap above):
2:00 Did Maximilian Maeder's and Stephenie Chen’s parents have sporting backgrounds that influenced their kids?
13:10 Is there a point in which parents build a roadmap to sporting success?
17:40 Why is there a need to trust the experts and coaches as opposed to intervening?
21:12 Making sacrifices for your children when they pursue sports
26:28 Why parents should be a safe space for their children who pursue sports
35:00 Reacting to naysayers who say there is no future in sports
Read: https://str.sg/DMK2
Produced by: Deepanraj Ganesan (gdeepan@sph.com.sg), Eden Soh and Amirul Karim
Edited by: Amirul Karim
Follow Hard Tackle every month here and get notified for new episode drops:
Channel: https://str.sg/JWRE
Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWRa
Spotify: https://str.sg/JW6N
SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/
Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg
Follow Deepanraj Ganesan on X: https://str.sg/wtra
Read his articles: https://str.sg/ip4G
Catch visual snippets of the podcast from ST's sports Instagram page: https://str.sg/vn2F
---
Discover more ST podcast channels:
All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7
The Usual Place: https://str.sg/wEr7u
COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE
Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7
Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN
Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf
Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m
Hard Tackle: https://str.sg/JWRE
#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad
Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX
---
ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts
ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa
---
Special edition series:
True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T
The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2
Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn
Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB
Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa
---
Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player section:
The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB
Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX
#hardtackle
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.