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Alicia Schmidt has caught illness following a long flight to South Africa for her first training camp of the season. The German made her Olympic debut at the Paris Olympics 2024 and competed in 400m events.
Schmidt announced in an Instagram story on Tuesday that she had delayed the start of her training camp after having caught an illness following the flight to Africa. The European U20 Championships medalist wrote:
"Unfortunately I got a bit sick after the flight and have to postpone the start of training camp."
The German runner expressed dismay over not having a good start to her camp after having to wait for her luggage as well.
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"Also waiting for my luggage still. Hadn't the best start of the camp I would say," Alica Schmidt added.
The 26-year-old announced her plans to travel to South Africa last week, saying:
"I'm flying to South Africa for the first training camp of the year 🥰🙌. Season starts soon."
Schmidt started her preparations for the 2025 track and field season in early November and attended a training camp in South Africa later that month. The Olympic runner was happy with the results from the camp, and wrote in its conclusion:
"First training camp of the season is almost completed 🤝🏼☺️ it was a really good camp and made some good progression 📈 now I’m only 4 more days in South Africa - but I‘ll be back soon"
She made her Olympic debut in the 4x400 relay events in Paris, finishing 7th in the heats in both mixed and women's events.
Alica Schmidt to compete in 800m and 600m in the 2024 season
After having run the 400m distance for the majority of her career, Alica Schmidt has planned a move to the 800m and the 600m distance in the 2025 track and field season.
"After Paris I tried something new and ran a 800m & 600m and really enjoyed pushing out of my comfort zone. Back in 2022, I decided that I wanted to give the 800m a shot after the Paris Olympics, so now it means… I’m going for it next year 👀," she announced in an Instagram post on November 10, 2024.
The German runner competed once over each distance at the end of last season, clocking 2:05.22 and 1:24.88 for sixth and third-place finishes respectively. Both times marked her lifetime bests and she would be eager to improve those numbers in 2025.
