Viral track and field star Alica Schmidt has qualified for the upcoming Paris Olympics in the mixed 4x400m relay.
The 25-year-old has been dubbed as the ‘world’s sexiest athlete’ and has amassed a massive following on social media.
Sharing experiences from her life in the world of athletics, in addition to collaborations with fashion brands and appearances at glitzy events, Schmidt has garnered more than 5 million followers on Instagram and 2m on Tik Tok.
Schmidt was part of the German group that attended Olympic qualifying sessions at the The Bahamas National Stadium in Nassau.
After finishing fourth and missing out on qualification in the women’s 4x400m on Sunday, she rebounded as part of the mixed 4x400m team who earned their place in Paris.
Viral track star Alica Schmidt (left) has qualified for the upcoming Olympics as part of Germany’s mixed 4x400m relay team
The 25-year-old has amassed more than 5 million Instagram followers and has been dubbed the ‘world’s sexiest athlete’
Schmidt expressed her excitement by proclaiming ‘Olympic season is here’ to her 2m followers on Tik Tok
Paris will mark Schmidt’s Olympic debut after she travelled to Tokyo for the 2020 Games but ultimately did not compete.
Celebrating her success in a post on Tik Tok, Schmidt declared that ‘Olympic season has officially started’.
Earlier this year she revealed that, despite her various successes in athletics and a massive following online, her main salary comes from a German sports foundation and works out at just £600 (€700) a month.
But despite that modest base salary, Schmidt has spoken out about turning down a lucrative endorsement from a ‘well known’ company, saying she has to be ‘100 per cent behind’ a brand before signing up to it.
She told Bild: ‘Two months ago I received an offer from a well-known brand. But I wasn’t 100 per cent behind it. I don’t feel comfortable with that. That would have been in the mid to high six figures for a campaign.’
Schmidt has previously spoken about the struggles of an athlete to generate regular income, saying the money that she is paid for competing in competitions is not enough for her to live on.
‘In principle, I have to say that it is not easy for most German track and field athletes to make a living from sport,’ she told the German publication.
Schmidt previously revealed that she has turned down partnerships with brands she is not comfortable with
She travelled with the German Olympic team to Tokyo 2020 but ultimately did not compete
‘Of course there is money to be made through competitions. In most competitions you don’t make any money. Personally, I couldn’t live on these amounts alone, because for many competitions you still have travel and hotel costs, which aren’t always covered.
‘Most of us study part-time in order to build up a second source of income, or even have mini-jobs that we do on the side.’
