Do you earn too little in athletics to make a living from it? A corresponding call for help from runner Alica Schmidt, which caused quite a stir, has now also caused a headwind.
Alica Schmidt is not only known as one of the best German 400 meter runners, but has also made a name for herself as a model and influencer.
After the track and field athlete recently openly denounced what she saw as the low pay as a professional athlete in a video on TikTok, she now has to put up with criticism from former Olympic champion Christian Schenk.
Among other things, Schmidt revealed that Sporthilfe would give you 700 euros a month if you were in the national team squad. She also receives “a small sum” from the club, but others receive nothing at all. Overall, it is difficult to make a living from sport alone. Statements that Schenk didn’t like at all.
The 58-year-old, who won gold in the decathlon for the GDR in Seoul in 1988 and came third at the European Championships in 1990 and the World Cup a year later, wrote in a post on his Facebook account that Schmidt’s TikTok video had “horrified” him.
The post by the 24-year-old, whom he described as an “influencer and ‘top athlete'” – the latter deliberately put in quotation marks – was “disrespectful” and did not bode well. “If money is THE motivation in athletics, we will achieve even fewer successes. And we haven’t been blessed with this in Germany for years,” the 58-year-old said angrily.
Athletics “a respectable individual sport with team moments”
Schmidt had previously explained that many German athletes “have to build up a second source of income or even have mini-jobs that they do on the side.” Schmidt herself, who works as a model outside of sports and has 4.7 million followers on Instagram, described her wide reach as a “plus” when it comes to finding sponsors.
Was Schenk bothered by that? Not clear. In any case, his appeal “to all young and older track and field athletes and LA fans”: His favorite sport is “a serious, hard-working, respectable individual sport with team moments, which years ago found the greatest recognition among the entire population. I also think that “It will always remain a core Olympic sport worldwide.”
From Schenk’s point of view, money should not play the decisive role.