Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund has reportedly hired Alica Schmidt, a 21-year-old track and field German athlete as their new fitness coach. Schmidt is turning heads on social media for all the right reasons.
Earlier this week, Schmidt shared stories on Instagram where she was enjoying her time training with the likes of Thomas Meunier, Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels. The German defender was also challenged to a 400m race by Schmidt who won it with ease.
As the new fitness coach, Schmidt will be expected to help Dortmund players in boosting their fitness levels. However, fans have joked that Schmidt is the reason why Jadon Sancho will stay at Signal Iduna Park this summer.
For the unversed, Sancho was heavily linked with Manchester United but the board failed to reach a breakthrough for the English winger. And now, the banter from fans has only increased after Schmidt was appointed the new fitness coach at the club.
To some extent, the banter may hold some truth to it. Schmidt's Instagram popularity has risen in recent weeks, thanks to Sancho jokes and the fact that she was labelled as "World's Sexiest Athlete" by Australian magazine 'Busted Coverage', earlier this year. Schmidt has gained over one million followers on Instagram and identifies herself as a social media influencer.
However, in response to the magazine, Schmidt said, "I do not know why I got this title. Sport comes clearly first. There are thousands of girls on Instagram who look good and still do not have as many fans makes you interesting, and that's just competitive sport for me."
Schmidt, born in 1998, is hopeful of taking part in the Tokyo Olympics which is postponed to the next year due to the novel coronavirus. She has resumed training after the pandemic, which brought the entire sporting world to a standstill, eased down in European countries.
Starting at a very young age, Schmidt has starred in various sporting events. In 2017, she earned a silver medal in the 4x400 relay at the European Athletics Under-20 Championships. Two years later, she went on to follow it up with a bronze medal in the same category at the Under-23 European Championship.
Schmidt is also sponsored by German sports brand PUMA. She often promotes the brand on her Instagram profile.
Check out some of her Instagram posts below:
