Germany's model runner: "I'm 100 percent an athlete"

Created: 08/12/2022, 08:53

By: Nico-Marius Schmitz

"You can't just do the sport on the side," says 400-meter runner Alica Schmidt.

© dpa

More than three million people follow Alica Schmidt on Instagram – but her focus is on the 400 meters, as she explains.

Munich – 2017: Alica Schmidt took part in the 4x400 meter relay at the European Junior Championships and won silver.

But the Instagram pictures of the athlete caused a stir at the time.

Several tabloid media jumped at it, the online magazine "Busted Coverage" dubbed Schmidt the "world's sexiest athlete" - the hottest athlete in the world.

There is a hype about the runner, more than 100,000 people (previously 17,000) follow the Worms native almost overnight on Instagram.

There are now over three million.

Nobody from the German athletics scene is as popular on social media as Schmidt.

In terms of sport, the 23-year-old is one of the top Germans over the 400 meters (best time 52:21) and recently finished eleventh out of 14 teams in the 4x400 meter relay at the World Championships in Eugene.

Schmidt was a substitute runner at the Olympics, took part in a World Cup and will also start at the home European Championships in Munich from Monday.

Nevertheless, most of the reports revolve around the visual, around their presence on Instagram and Co. "I'm surprised that I'm still associated with this title.

It's been five years," says Schmidt in an interview with our newspaper: "But it's also very clear that that opened a lot of doors for me back then." Among other things, Schmidt models for Hugo Boss and has her own collection there.

The "Sportschau" described the athlete as a "runner, model and Insta-Queen".

For Schmidt, however, there is no discussion about what is the focus of her life: "I'm a 100 percent athlete.

There is no other way.

You can't just do the sport on the side and then expect to take part in a world championship."

You have to consistently work on yourself and do without many things, says Schmidt.

Be it partying with friends or family celebrations.

Everything that she can build around the sport is of course fun, but the focus has always been on the 400 meters in recent years.

“I like to take people with me on social media and show them my everyday life as an athlete, but only when I feel like it.

At the World Cup, for example, Schmidt left his cell phone off for the most part.

There were moments that no camera can capture.

For example when she stood next to running legend Allyson Felix in the relay.

An athlete that Schmidt has looked up to for years.

And one thing is clear: Of course, self-marketing helps Schmidt to secure himself financially.

“It is difficult to make a living from competitions and bonuses alone.

Especially as a young athlete who first has to fight his way to the top.

It's a difficult path.” Once you're at the top, it's a different starting position, says Schmidt.

But nobody shows you how to get there.

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At the World Championships, Schmidt spoke to many other relay athletes and asked if they were going on vacation this year.

The answer was often the same: “No, the training camps were too expensive.

I have to save now." Schmidt knows: "Many people pay in advance and don't come out with a plus, but with a minus in competitive sports."

The perception of the sport in Germany was a big topic again after the World Championships in Athletics in Eugene.

The 400-meter runner has also thought about it.

In Germany, it is simply not recognized that sport is also a job, except in the case of football.

"We don't train four hours a day and then that's it," rather the preparation and follow-up of the training, healthy nutrition, and physiotherapy are all part of it.

For Schmidt, sport is a goal in life that you have to pursue consistently.

Now the European Championships are coming up in Munich.

"I'm really looking forward to running in this beautiful stadium," says Schmidt, who grew up in Ingolstadt.

And has a clear message: "When I'm on the track, it's all about performance, how fit you are and how hard you've trained.

The followers or what you look like don't matter on the track.”