UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE: The most beautiful athlete in the world, Alica Schmidt, suddenly confessed that she stayed at home selling clothes to the point of forgetting about the world championship in Japan, making fans angry because of the expectations placed on her.

In a shocking revelation that has sent ripples through the athletics world and beyond, German track sensation Alica Schmidt, often hailed as the “most beautiful athlete in the world,” has confessed to prioritizing her burgeoning fashion side hustle over her athletic commitments. The 26-year-old, whose Instagram following exceeds five million, admitted in a candid social media post that she spent the crucial weeks leading up to the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo holed up at home, promoting and selling her clothing line. This distraction, she claimed, led her to “completely forget” about the global event, leaving fans seething with disappointment and betrayal over the sky-high expectations they had pinned on her.

The World Championships, held from September 13 to 21 in Japan’s vibrant capital, represented a pinnacle moment for Schmidt. After a mixed 2024 Olympic campaign in Paris—where she anchored Germany’s mixed 4x400m relay to a seventh-place finish without a medal—she announced a bold shift to the 800m distance for 2025. This transition was meant to reinvigorate her career, building on her personal best of 2:05.22 and her silver medal in the 4x400m relay at the 2017 European U20 Championships. Fans, media outlets, and sponsors alike buzzed with anticipation, envisioning Schmidt gracing Tokyo’s National Stadium in a blaze of glory. Her relay team had even secured qualification earlier in the year at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, with Schmidt dropping a simple “Made it” on her Instagram story to celebrate.

But reality diverged dramatically. Schmidt’s 2025 season, already marred by setbacks, unraveled at the German National Championships in August. Competing in the women’s 800m, she clocked a modest 2:06.47 in her heat, finishing third and missing the finals by a razor-thin margin as a non-automatic qualifier. It was a heartbreaking end to her competitive year, compounded by lingering health issues that she later described as “definitely frustrating.” In the aftermath, as the world turned its eyes to Tokyo, Schmidt vanished from the track circuit. No warm-ups in Japan, no media scrums at the athlete village—just silence from the woman whose every sprint seemed to command global headlines.

The confession came on September 18, midway through the championships, via a lengthy Instagram Live session that amassed over a million views in hours. Dressed in a casual ensemble from her own apparel brand—a sleek athleisure set in soft pastels—Schmidt appeared relaxed, sipping coffee in what looked like her Berlin apartment. “Guys, I have to be real with you,” she began, her voice a mix of sheepish apology and unapologetic candor. “The last few months? I was deep in launches for my clothing line. Shooting campaigns, packing orders, even hand-stitching samples late into the night. It was this bubble, you know? I looked up one day and realized—oh wait, the Worlds are happening right now. I straight-up forgot to pack my spikes.” She laughed it off, but the damage was done. Hashtags like #AlicaDisappoints and #ForgotTokyo trended worldwide, with fans flooding comment sections: “We believed in you for the gold, not your hoodies!” one viral post read, garnering 50,000 likes.

Schmidt’s dual life as athlete and influencer has long been a double-edged sword. Dubbed the “world’s sexiest athlete” by tabloids since her breakout in 2017, she parlayed her striking looks and relatable persona into lucrative endorsements with Puma, Hugo Boss, and her self-launched clothing venture, “Alica Active.” The brand, emphasizing sustainable activewear for women who “run the world—literally,” exploded in popularity post-Paris Olympics, with sales spiking 300% in early 2025. Critics argue this commercialization dilutes her focus; supporters praise her for breaking the mold of the one-dimensional Olympian. Yet, this latest episode tips the scale toward detractors. “She’s trading lanes for likes,” fumed a former German teammate in an anonymous interview with Bild, echoing tensions from the 2024 Olympics when Schmidt’s relay selection sparked internal drama.

The backlash has been swift and multifaceted. On X (formerly Twitter), threads dissecting her “forgetfulness” amassed millions of impressions, with memes juxtaposing her glamorous fashion shoots against Tokyo’s packed stadiums. Sponsors remain tight-lipped, but whispers of contract reviews circulate. Athletics purists decry the incident as symptomatic of a sport’s commercialization, where social media metrics rival medal counts. “Alica embodies the glamour of track and field,” says sports sociologist Dr. Elena Voss of the University of Heidelberg, “but glamour without grit breeds resentment. Fans invested emotionally; this feels like a personal slight.”

For Schmidt, the fallout is palpable. In follow-up stories, she addressed the uproar directly: “I get it—you’re mad, and you have every right. Training for Worlds is my dream, but building something that’s mine? That’s my reality too. I’ll be back stronger, spikes on, no excuses.” Her vulnerability resonated with some, boosting her clothing sales ironically by 20% overnight as supporters rallied with #TeamAlica. Yet, the sting lingers. The championships concluded without her, Germany settling for relay bronzes in events she might have anchored.

As September 2025 draws to a close, Schmidt embarks on an off-season Asia trip she teased as “one of my biggest adventures yet”—a blend of recovery, promotion, and perhaps reflection. At 26, with a resume boasting European medals and Olympic experience, her trajectory remains enviable. But this confession marks a turning point: Can the woman who outran expectations on the track outpace the narrative she’s now scripted for herself? Fans, furious yet faithful, await her next lap. In athletics, as in fashion, redemption is always one bold stitch away.