How Alica Schmidt and Erling Haaland measure up after her challenge
Beauty vs The Beast! How ‘the world’s sexiest athlete’ Alica Schmidt and Man City star Erling Haaland measure up after she challenged him to a race
- Alica Schmidt challenged Manchester City star Erling Haaland to a race
- The 24-year-old German star thrashed Mats Hummels over 400m two years ago
- WATCH: ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ – Episode 2 – Mail Sport’s brand new football show
The women dubbed the ‘world’s sexiest athlete’ called out Manchester City star Erling Haaland to a race.
Alica Schmidt, competed for Germany at the ongoing World Championships in Budapest and reckons she can beat the explosive striker in her preferred 400 metres event – despite admitting she would struggle over 200m.
She recently set a personal best over 400m of 52.18 seconds, averaging around 17mph.
Haaland though has previously been record at speeds of up to 22.5mph – albeit he runs in shorter bursts than Schmidt.
Mail Sport runs through the tale of the tape and compares the two sporting stars.
What they’ve said about each other
Schmidt and Haaland have a past connection after she served as Borussia Dortmund’s fitness coach during the 2020-21 season.
So while they might know each other from their time at the Bundesliga club, Haaland has not spoken about the 24-year-old in public.
Schmidt though has said she would be open to a race between them.
When asked by Norwegian outlet Dagbladet if she could beat him in a race, the 24-year-old replied: ‘Hmm, I don’t know – maybe. I think, on 400m, yes. On 200m, it would be more difficult. But I would be happy if the race takes place.’
She was then quizzed on when the race might happen, and replied: ‘I don’t know, I have to ask him. But I’m always ready.
Alica Schmidt said she would fancy her changes against Erling Haaland over a 400m distance
Schmidt was a fitness coach at Borussia Dortmund when Haaland was there scoring goals for fun
Social media followers
If social media followers was a race, then Haaland would have lapped Schmidt seven times.
Haaland on the back of his goal scoring exploits for the likes of RB Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and now Man City has amassed a total of 35.1 million followers on Instagram.
Schmidt, who is also a model, has four million Instagram followers but is quickly gaining traction on the social media website.
Both athletes regularly post on the image-sharing platform, sharing images of them taking part in their respective sports, training, as well as showing off their fashion sense.
Schmidt, in addition to competing for her country, also models her own clothing range for Hugo Boss.
Haaland, meanwhile also shows off other parts of his life, revealing his favourite video game was Minecraft during an Instagram post towards the end of last season.
Schmidt was dubbed the ‘world’s sexiest athlete’ and has 4.3million followers on Instagram
Erling Haaland shows off his fashion sense on social media as well as posts about football
Speed
At a team like Manchester City, Haaland doesn’t need to show off his pace too often but when he does it’s normally in very short bursts.
Throughout his career though he has shown to have a freakish mixture of power and pace which is enough to put fear in any defence in world football.
Last season he struck 52 goals, and already has two in two games this campaign.
During the 2022-23 campaign, he recorded a pace of 22.5mph
Premier League stats showed that only seven players in the entire division recorded a quicker speed than him last season – with team-mate Kyle Walker the fastest at 23.1mph.
Schmidt meanwhile has recorded a pace of 17mph – though it should be balanced that she has to pace herself over 400m – a much bigger distance than Haaland would have in one sprint.
She previously beat Borussia Dortmund’s World Cup winning defender Mats Hummels in 2021 – a race which she won comfortably.
Hummels was 32 though and has never shown anywhere near the speed that Haaland does.
The German sprinter backed herself over her preferred 400m but admitted 200m would be ‘more difficult’ against the Manchester City striker, who was clocked at 22mph last season
Schmidt defeated Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels in a 400m race two years ago
Career high
Haaland exploded onto the scene during the 2019-20 season scoring 28 goals in 22 games for RB Salzburg, before netting 86 times in 89 games for Borussia Dortmund.
Despite winning three trophies during his time across both of those clubs, undoubtedly his career high came with last season’s Treble – something which his incredible 52 goals in 53 games played a huge part in.
He hit numbers like not seen before during the Premier League era, and unless he suffers injuries or moves to another club abroad, he will likely enjoy much more success at Man City in the coming years.
Schmidt on the other hand has won two junior European medals in the 4x400m relay, and was part of the Germany team that came seventh in the 4x400m mixed relay final at the World Championships.
She unfortunately missed out on the Tokyo Olympics but hopes to represent her country in Paris next year.
She also boasts success away from track and field however, as she was named on Forbes’ 30 under 30 last year.
Both have lucrative deals away from their sports too, with Schmidt linked with Hugo Boss and Italian brand Dolce & Gabbana snapping up Haaland earlier this year.
Haaland (left) was an influential figure in Manchester City’s Treble-winning campaign
Her Germany team reached the final of the 4x400m mixed relay at the World Championships
Aside from sprinting, the 24-year-old German was named on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list last year
Diet and training
Both Schmidt and Haaland have excellent physiques and regularly show them off on social media.
Since missing out on the Japan Olympics, Schmidt has honed technique and physique and has shown off her six-pack in images online.
On Instagram she shows off her grueling workout routines including weight work and a number of different exercises including leg raises, reverse crunches and bicycles.
Schmidt drinks energy drinks and protein shakes and keeps to a healthy diet with chicken, vegetables, brown rice, sushi or salmon salad and oatmeal.
Haaland meanwhile lifted the lid on his Hannibal Lecter-style diet in a documentary called Haaland: The Big Decision.
Haaland previously revealed his unusual diet of heart and liver that has helped him take football by storm
A post shared by Alica Ѕchmidt | Track & Field (@alicasmd)
Your browser does not support iframes.
Showing off huge chunks of heart and liver from his butcher, he said: ‘You (other people) don’t eat this, but I am concerned with taking care of my body.
‘I think eating quality food that is as local as possible is the most important.
‘The first thing I do in the morning is to get some sunlight in my eyes — it is good for circadian rhythm.
‘I have also started to filtrate my water a bit. I think it can have great benefits for my body.’ The 6ft 4in striker is also a fan of ice baths, and glasses which filter out blue light to improve his sleep alongside his 6,000 calories a day diet.
Verdict
It would be a challenging call if they were to race over 400m but on experience alone the advantage would have to go Schmidt.
Haaland, while undeniably having a greater top speed, could burn himself out too quickly unless he could manage his race pace across the 400m.
However, the Norwegian at 6ft4in compared to Schmidt at 5ft9in, would have the stride advantage as well as the power advantage – given he is 32kg heavier than the 400m runner.
Schmidt would be right to doubt her chances over 200m. Haaland could be too far gone before she has a chance to claw the Norwegian back.
But it would be a fascinating race to see – though the best chance of it happening likely would have taken place was when they were together at Borussia Dortmund.
Schmidt would have the experience advantage and could beat Haaland over her preferred 400m distance if the Norwegian striker didn’t pace himself despite his electric speed
Source: Read Full Article