Tokyo Olympics: 'World's sexiest athlete' bemuses fans with busy schedule ... on social media

Alica Schmidt qualified for Germany's 4x400m relay team. Photo / Alicia Schmidt, Instagram

Fans of a German runner dubbed the "world's sexiest athlete" have expressed mixed emotions over her seemingly lengthy stay in the Tokyo Olympic Village.

Alica Schmidt, who qualified for her country's 4x400m relay team, was benched for Saturday's mixed event and instead posted to social media from the sidelines.

Her team made the final but was ultimately disqualified for making contact with the Jamaican team, leaving some to predict an early end to the 22-year-old's 2021 Olympic campaign.

Schmidt's notable absence from competition has not gone unnoticed by her near 3 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.

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A post shared by ᗩlica Ѕchmidt (@alicasmd)

She has been sharing snippets from life inside the village and regularly updates her Instagram stories with videos from inside the athletics field, cheering on teammates.

And while thousands excitedly follow along, many have become curious about what she's doing in Tokyo, given she hasn't been competing.

In a video posted at the weekend, Schmidt posed in a crop top and shorts, captioning the clip "when you make your first Olympic team".

Many commenters were left perplexed by the short video.

"Confused. What are you even doing? Your videos are showing a lot of posing which is cool, but I cannot see your event anywhere," one person wrote.

"Didn't realise being hot was a sport," another said.

There was a similar theme in comments posted under a video the next day, in which Schmidt showed off the "presents" she had been gifted for being part of the Games.

Close to 74,000 people liked the top comment, which implied Schmidt had entered the Olympics for "free stuff" rather than to win.

Another TikTok user accused the German team of selecting Schmidt to promote the Olympics rather than for her athletic abilities.

Others expressed confusion at how Schmidt had access to the Olympic Village for such a prolonged period without competing.

She could still get a chance to represent her country this week, with the women's 4x400m relay heats on Thursday and the finals on Saturday.