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There is an eternal battle of perception between footballers and track athletes over their speeds and running capacity. While footballers sometimes seem to think that they can run faster than track athletes, Mats Hummels would certainly disagree, after literally being smoked by Alica Schmidt in a 400m race.
In 2020, German 400m sprinter Alica Schmidt was invited as a fitness coach to train some members of the German football club, Borussia Dortmund, as part of a commercial engagement. Thomas Meunier, Felix Passlack, Manuel Akanji, along with Mats Hummels were some of her trainees for the day.
Schmidt raced against Hummels in a 400m race. The sprinter took to Instagram to share the experience of her race with the footballer. She wrote:
"Who has won you will see in my youtube video soon but I can tell you it was tough for both of us."
Well, Alica Schmidt won the race by quite a distance and with ease at that. Hummels gasped for breath as he replied:
"I really underestimated that"
The entire video of the 400m race between Alica Schmidt and Mats Hummels was posted on her YouTube channel.
"I have no ambitions to compete against other Bundesliga players" - Alica Schmidt
German 400m sprinter Alica Schmidt was a part of the medal-winning 4x400m relay teams at the 2017 European Athletics U20 Championships and 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships.
She competed at the Oregon World Championships in 2022. She was also a part of the national squad at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, although she did not compete.
After she comfortably defeated Mats Hummels in a 400m race, she spoke to the Free Press Journal about the general experience.
When asked if she would challenge Jadon Sancho or the fastest footballers of the present times for a race, she replied that, at the moment, she had no intention of racing any other Bundesliga players.
"For once I was very grateful that Mats was immediately ready to embark on this adventure. At the moment, I have no ambitions to compete against other Bundesliga players, but maybe that will change."
Schmidt was very modest when talking about her win against Hummels. She said that the footballer already wanted a rematch and she would be ready for it anytime. She believed that he had the ability to win.
"In any case, Mats has announced that he would like a rematch and I am of course ready for that at any time. Mats is a very ambitious guy, who knows? Maybe he will even win next time. The first time he ran 400m was against me."
Well, it seems Schmidt's best is yet to come and all track enthusiasts and fans will be waiting for the sprinter to execute a sensational race that she will surely perform.
