[1] Reinelt was part of the team that won the gold medal in the men's eight competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

[1] At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he competed as part of Germany's men's eight team which won the silver medal.

[2][18][19] He was one of three rowers from the German 2016 Olympic team who retired after the Games, the others being Andreas Kuffner and Maximilian Munski.

[2][18] On 9 February 2019, Reinelt died whilst skiing in St. Moritz, Switzerland, with his fiancée.

[14] Speaking about Reinelt's death, IOC president Thomas Bach said "Maximilian Reinelt is one of the great athletes of German rowing and beyond that a very likeable person, who has managed to combine competitive sports and his vocational training as a doctor with great success.