Max Salminen

Max Salminen (born 22 September 1988) is a Swedish competitive sailor and the 2012 Olympic champion in the Star class together with Fredrik Lööf.

Biography Salminen was born in Lund, Sweden, on 22 September 1988, and started sailing in Segelsällskapet Pinhättan in Barsebäckshamn. For upper secondary school, he attended Katedralskolan in Lund. In 2010, Salminen joined Fredrik Lööf for an Olympic campaign in the Star class. Before the 2012 Summer Olympics, he relocated to Lake Garda in Italy to practice with Lööf. At the time, Salminen represented the Royal Swedish Yacht Club. The Swedish duo had secured a medal before the medal race but were sitting twelve points, or six places in the double-scoring race, behind Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson of Great Britain, but by winning the race while Great Britain only finished eighth after having lost their fifth place in the race over the last leg.

After the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Star left the Olympic programme, Lööf engaged in Artemis Racing and the America's Cup, and Salminen switched to the Finn dinghy. Representing the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club, Salminen then won the 2017 Finn Gold Cup in Balatonföldvár, Hungary, and was crowned World champion ahead of Jonathan Lobert of France och Nicholas Heiner of the Netherlands.

He qualified to represent Sweden at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the men's Finn. Salminen was chosen as the Swedish flag bearer at the opening ceremony together with equestrian Sara Algotsson Ostholt. Salminen finished ninth in the event which marked the end of the Olympic career for the Finn dinghy.

Achievements

2009 Laser World Championships Halifax, Canada 81st Laser class 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships Perth, Australia 5th Star class 2012 Star World Championship Hyères, France 5th Star class Olympic Games Weymouth and Portland, UK 1st Star class 2013 Finn Gold Cup Tallinn, Estonia 44th Finn class 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships Santander, Spain 10th Finn class