The ‘World’s Sexiest Athlete’ Alica Schmidt in feud with teammate at Paris Olympics

Alica Schmidt, who has long been labelled the “world’s sexiest athlete” by fans and websites like the New York Post , found herself embroiled in drama at the Paris Olympics.

Over the weekend, the gorgeous German track star was selected to compete in the mixed 4 x 400m relay, making her Olympic dream come true as she had gone to the Tokyo Olympics, but she ended up not competing in 2021.

This was her chance now in Paris as Schmidt was chosen to start by selectors ahead of fellow 400m runner Luna Bulmahn. It all proved to be a controversial decision and now drama has unfolded, making the whole situation a mess amongst the German dressing room.

During the competition, Germany failed to keep pace in the second heat of the event as they crossed the line seventh in a horror showing. It was Schmidt who ran the second leg of the relay and handed the baton off with the fourth slowest time of all runners across both heats. Her time of 52.05 only edged out two runners from Dominican Republic and one from the Bahamas.

In her own team, Luna Bulmahn got extremely upset at Schmidt, claiming she should never have been there in the first place, believing she herself deserved her spot in the relay. Bulmahn posted:

“Yes, I am the second fastest 400m athlete on paper. No, I was not nominated for the mixed relay.”

This was even more personal drama for Bulmahn who, by Schmidt’s selection, missed out on the chance to to compete alongside her boyfriend Jean Paul Bredau. He also commented on the controversy and also claimed that the omission of his partner affected his own performance:

“A few decisions were made that not everyone approved. The DLV made it very clear: the fastest four should run. A different decision was made.”

Bredau eventually walked back and apologized for his comments, however his partner Bulmahn did not and was handed a tough penalty by the German Athletics Association (DLV), axing her from competing in the women’s 4x400m relay.

“The line-up was made with a view to a successful mixed relay team. The decision was made unanimously by the DLV coaching team and was explained to the athletes,” a statement read.

“With a time of 3:15.63 minutes, the German mixed relay team was eliminated in the preliminary round on Friday in seventh place.

“Relays are a team sport. The athletes and coaches form this team. Success depends on good teamwork and mutual trust among all.”

As for Schmidt, who has over 5.3m Instagram followers and also works as a model, she never cared about the title of the ‘World’s Sexiest Athlete’ and continues to focus on her track running career.