Alice Schmidt

Alice Schmidt Kehaya (born October 3, 1981) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters. She represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 London Olympics and has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions (2005, 2007, 2011).

Schmidt emerged as one of the top collegiate runners while at the University of North Carolina, winning back-to-back NCAA outdoor titles in 2002 and 2003. She won the United States Indoor title in 2006 and has placed in the top three nationally at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships six times. Her personal best for the 800 m is 1:58.61 minutes, set in 2011. Her personal best in the 1500m is 4:05.64, set in 2012.

Early life and college Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she attended Elkhorn High School then went on to study journalism and political science at the University of North Carolina. She ran in collegiate competition for the North Carolina Tar Heels and in her first year she was runner-up in the 800 m at the NCAA Indoor Championship and the NCAA Outdoor Championship. She was also Atlantic Coast Conference indoors and outdoors that year. She defended her regional titles in 2002, placed third at the NCAA Indoors, then claimed her first NCAA Outdoor title with a personal record run of 2:04.74 minutes.

In her third year at North Carolina she won a second straight NCAA Outdoor title, improving her best to 2:01.16 minutes in the process. She also won the ACC Indoor title and placed top three in both the 800 m and 1500 meters at the ACC Outdoors. In her final year, she did not top the podium at the major collegiate competitions, coming runner-up at the ACC Indoor and Outdoor meets, fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championship, and third over 800 m at the NCAA Outdoor Championship. Her fastest run of 2006 (1:59.35) ranked her second in the United States that year. She claimed her first national title at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships and was second behind Hazel Clark at the USA Outdoors. Third place at the 2007 USA Outdoors saw her included in the American team for the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. She was knocked out in the heats, but her season was highlighted by a lifetime best of 1:58.75 minutes at the Prefontaine Classic. She did not progress beyond the heats. She returned to peak form in 2011, having a season's best of 1:58.61 minutes in Italy. She ran in the 800 m at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials and earned her second Olympic selection by beating Molly Beckwith to the third place spot. She reached the semi-final stage at the Olympics.

Schmidt retired from her career as a professional athlete to pursue a career in medicine. She completed the University of Virginia's Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program in May, 2014 and is currently enrolled in George Washington University Medical School

Personal bests 800 meters: 1:58.61 min (2011) 1500 meters: 4:05.64 min (2012) 800 m indoors: 2:01.93 min (2006)