Dafne Schippers (pronounced[ˈdɑfnəˈsxɪpərs]; born 15 June 1992) is a Dutch retiredtrack and field athlete who competed insprinting and thecombined events. She holds theEuropean record in the 200 metres with a time of 21.63 seconds, making her thesixth-fastest woman of all time at this distance. She also holds theDutch records in the100 metres andlong jump, and shares the Dutch records in the60 metres indoor and4 × 100 metres relay.
Schippers was the 200 m world champion at both the2015 and the2017 World Athletics Championships, the silver medalist in the200 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 200 m champion in the2016 Diamond League. Additionally, she won two silver and two bronze medals at world championships—heptathlon bronze in 2013; 100 m silver in 2015; indoor 60 m silver in 2016, and 100 m bronze in 2017—and five (outdoor andindoor) European titles. She won twenty-two Dutch titles (outdoor andindoor).
She wasEuropean Athlete of the Year in 2014 and 2015.
In 2023, Schippers announced her retirement as a professional athlete.[1]
Dafne Schippers was born on 15 June 1992 inUtrecht, theNetherlands.[2][3]
She started competing in athletics at the age of nine at the track and field club Hellas in Utrecht.[2]
Schippers originally competed in the heptathlon and won gold medals at the2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics[4] and2011 European Athletics Junior Championships. At the 2010 World Junior Championships she also won a bronze in the4 × 100 metres relay with her teammatesLoreanne Kuhurima,Eva Lubbers andJamile Samuel.[5]
In 2011 at theWorld Championships inDaegu, South Korea, Schippers broke theDutch national record in the 200 m in the heats in 22.69,[6] before finishing ninth in the semifinals, missing the final by 0.04 seconds. The4 × 100 metres relay team (Kadene Vassell, Schippers,Anouk Hagen and Samuel) were eliminated in the heats in a national record of 43.44 seconds.
In 2012, Schippers was invited to participate in the prestigious heptathlonHypo-Meeting inGötzis, Austria, where she finished fifth. She also competed at the2012 European Athletics Championships inHelsinki, Finland, finishing fifth at the 200 metres.[7] The race was disappointing after she had won her heat in 23.01 s and recorded the fastest semi-final time of 22.70 s. The Dutch 4 × 100 m relay team (Kadene Vassell, Schippers,Eva Lubbers and Samuel) were second in 42.80 s, a national record, behind the German team.[8]
A year later, she started with third place at the Hypo-Meeting, with 6287 points.[9] Next, she won gold in the 100 m and bronze in thelong jump at the2013 European Athletics U23 Championships. At the subsequent2013 World Championships inMoscow, Schippers won the bronze medal in theheptathlon, collapsing over the line after taking a massive seven seconds off her personal best in the 800 metres to see off BritonKatarina Johnson-Thompson and Germany'sClaudia Rath for the bronze.[10][11] She became the first Dutch woman to win a medal in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships.[10]
Schippers improved the 200 m record during the heptathlon at the 2014 Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, her time of 22.35 s being one of the best 200 m performances ever in a heptathlon. She finished third at the hepthatlon with 6545 points, a new national record.[12] At theEuropean championships of 2014, Schippers won gold medals in the100 m and the200 m.[13] The 4 × 100 m relay team, one of the favourites for the title, did not finish in the final due to a botched first baton change.[14]
Her success at the 2014 European Athletics Championships prompted discussion over her long-term prospects and whether she should focus on sprinting, or continue her career in the heptathlon.[15] In June 2015, Schippers announced viaTwitter that she would focus on sprinting in the run-up to the2015 World Championships in Athletics inBeijing, China and the2016 Summer Olympics inRio de Janeiro (Brazil).[16]
The 2015 season had started well with a win in the 60 m at the2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships inPrague, Czechia.[17] At the 2015 Beijing World Championships, Schippers won the silver medal in the100 m and gold in the200 m, just beforeElaine Thompson.[18] Her 200 m winning time of 21.63 seconds was a newEuropean record and made her the third fastest woman in history over that distance.[18][19] The Dutch 4 × 100 m relay team (Nadine Visser, Schippers,Naomi Sedney and Samuel) finished fifth in 42.32 s, but was disqualified for a changeover infringement.[20] In the heats the team had also run 42.32 s, a new national record.[21] Her stunning victory opened her up to scrutiny about possible doping. There were questions about the acne on Schippers back and face, which can be a sign of steroid abuse. Most insiders, however, dismissed those claims, pointing out that the acne was hereditary in the family and the fast track in Beijing.[22]
Next year, she won the100 m at the2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam with time of 10.90 s, by 3 tenths of a second. The Dutch team led by Schippers, with Samuel,Tessa van Schagen and anchor runner Naomi Sedney won the4 × 100 m relay with a national record of 42.04 s.[23]
At the2016 Rio Olympics expectation was high that she would add an Olympic title to the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships, following in the footsteps ofFanny Blankers-Koen who had dominated the sprint events at the1948 Summer Olympic Games, winning four golds.[24] However, she finished fifth in the100 m final[25] and won the silver medal in the200 m behind Elaine Thompson, who became the first woman for 28 years to complete the Olympic sprint double.[26][27] After defeat in the 200 m, Schippers remained forlorn on the side of the track for a while, took off her spikes and hurled them to one side in frustration.[24] "I came here for gold", she told reporters, disappointment showing in her face. "I'm not happy with the silver."[26] The Dutch relay team was eliminated in the heats due to a botched relay handover between Samuel and Schippers.[28][29]
After the disappointment of Rio, Schippers decided to change. She parted with Bart Bennema as her coach, who had overseen her transition from an outstanding heptathlete, winning bronze in the World Championships Moscow 2013, into a successful 100 m and 200 m sprinter. Both felt that she had to try a different approach to progress, and so she decided to join U.S. coach and sprint guruRana Reider[30] and focus on the2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, to defend her world title in the200 m. After winning the bronze in the100 m, she won the 200 m title, joining JamaicanMerlene Ottey and USA'sAllyson Felix as the only athletes to successfully defend a world title in the event.[24][31] "It's a great feeling to be world champion for the second time," she said. "I was a bit nervous beforehand, but I'm a final runner, and bring my best in finals, so I'm very grateful for the experience today. There were so many Dutch fans in the stadium, all wearing orange. To win this two times in a row is brilliant."[24] The Dutch 4 × 100 m relay team (Madiea Ghafoor, Schippers, Sedney, Samuel)finished 8th.
For the 2018 season, the focus for the "Flying Dutchwoman of the sprints"[32] was on the2018 European Athletics Championships at theOlympiastadion in Berlin. However, it was British sprinterDina Asher-Smith who became the star of the sprint there, winning gold on both the 100 m and 200 m, as well as the 4 × 100 m relay. Schippers won a bronze in the 100 m and a silver in the 200 m.[33] The4 × 100 m relay team with Schippers,Marije van Hunenstijn, Samuel and Sedney also finished second.
Due to the disappointing results, the collaboration between Schippers and Reider came under scrutiny. Although Reider did prepare her for her special second world title at 200 m and bronze at 100 m at the 2017 World Championships, many other races looked rigid and she had lost her most important weapon, the 'acceleration' in the end. Due to increased power training she became more muscular, but on the track this did not lead to improvements. She could not improve her 2015 top chrono's.[34] Reider suddenly left theNational Sports Centre Papendal in the Netherlands in November 2018, and Schippers returned to her first coach, Bart Bennema.[35]
Schippers won a silver in the60 m at theEuropean Indoor Championships. At the2019 World Championships inDoha, Schippers had to withdraw before the final of the100 m with an adductor problem. She subsequently withdrew from the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay.[36]
In September 2023, Schippers announced her retirement as a professional athlete.[37]
Schippers was a commentator forWorld Athletics at the2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
In March 2024, she became the tournament director of the2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships inApeldoorn, Netherlands.[38]
All information fromWorld Athletics profile.[39]
All information fromWorld Athletics profile.[39]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | European Junior Championships | Novi Sad, Serbia | 4th | Heptathlon | 5507 pts | |
| 2010 | World Junior Championships | Moncton, Canada | 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 44.09 | NJR |
| 1st | Heptathlon | 5967 pts | NJR | |||
| 2011 | European Indoor Championships | Paris, France | 11th (sf) | 60 m | 7.30 i | |
| European Junior Championships | Tallinn, Estonia | 1st | Heptathlon | 6153 pts | ||
| World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 9th (sf) | 200 m | 22.92 | ||
| 9th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.44 | NR | |||
| 2012 | World Indoor Championships | Istanbul, Turkey | 10th (sf) | 60 m | 7.25 i | |
| European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 5th | 200 m | 23.53 | ||
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.80 | NR | |||
| Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 6th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.70 | ||
| 11th | Heptathlon | 6324 pts | ||||
| 2013 | European Indoor Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 4th | 60 m | 7.14 i | |
| European U23 Championships | Tampere, Finland | 1st | 100 m | 11.13 | (wind: -0.7 m/s) | |
| 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 44.18 | ||||
| 3rd | Long jump | 6.59 m | (wind: +1.6 m/s) | |||
| World Championships | Moscow, Russia | 3rd | Heptathlon | 6477 pts | NR | |
| 2014 | World Indoor Championships | Sopot, Poland | 10th (sf) | 60 m | 7.18 i | |
| European Championships | Zürich, Switzerland | 1st | 100 m | 11.12 | ||
| 1st | 200 m | 22.03 | NR | |||
| 3rd (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.77 | 1 | |||
| 2015 | European Indoor Championships | Prague, Czech Republic | 1st | 60 m | 7.05 i | |
| World Championships | Beijing, China | 2nd | 100 m | 10.81 | NR | |
| 1st | 200 m | 21.63 | CRAR | |||
| — | 4 × 100 m relay | DQ | ||||
| 2016 | World Indoor Championships | Portland, United States | 2nd | 60 m | 7.04 i | |
| European Championships | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 1st | 100 m | 10.90 | ||
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.04 | NR | |||
| Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 5th | 100 m | 10.90 | ||
| 2nd | 200 m | 21.88 | ||||
| 9th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.88 | ||||
| 2017 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.11 | |
| World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 3rd | 100 m | 10.96 | ||
| 1st | 200 m | 22.05 | ||||
| 8th | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.07 | ||||
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 5th | 60 m | 7.10 i | |
| European Championships | Berlin, Germany | 3rd | 100 m | 10.99 | ||
| 2nd | 200 m | 22.14 | ||||
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.15 | ||||
| 2019 | European Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 2nd | 60 m | 7.14 i | |
| World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 7th (sf) | 100 m | 11.07 | 2 | |
| 2021 | World Relays | Chorzów, Poland | 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 44.10 | |
| Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 17th (sf) | 200 m | 23.03 | ||
| 7th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.81 | 1 |
1Did not finish in the final
2Did not start in the final
2016
She was theDutch Women's Athlete of the Year in 2011–2017; theEuropean Women's Athlete of the Month in July 2014, May 2015, August 2015, February 2016, and May 2016; theEuropean Women's Athlete of the Year in 2014 and 2015; andDutch Sportswoman of the Year in 2015 and 2017.
She received the Membership of Merit of theRoyal Dutch Athletics Federation in 2016.[43]
The Dafne Schippersbrug (Dafne Schippers Bridge) in Utrecht, where Schippers grew up, was opened in April 2017, and named in her honour.[44]
(in Dutch and English)
| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Women's 200m European record holder 28 August 2015 – present | Incumbent |
| Achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Women's season's best performance, 200 m 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by | Women's Dutch Athlete of the Year 2011 – 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Women's European Athlete of the Year 2014, 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Dutch Sportswoman of the Year 2015 2017 | Succeeded by |
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European Athletics Championships champions in women's100 metres | |
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European Athletics Championships champions in women's200 metres | |
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European Athletics Championships champions in women's4 × 100 metres relay | |
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European Athletics Indoor Champions in women's60 metres | |
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The 1967–1969, 1972 and 1981 races were over50 metres |
World U20 Champions in women'sheptathlon | |
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European Athletics U23 Championships champions in women's100 metres | |
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| International | |
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