Dafne Schippers ( ; born 15 June 1992) is a Dutch retired track and field athlete who competed in sprinting and the combined events. She holds the European record in the 200 metres with a time of 21.63 seconds, making her the sixth-fastest woman of all time at this distance. She also holds the Dutch records in the 100 metres and long jump, and shares the Dutch records in the 60 metres indoor and 4 × 100 metres relay.
Schippers was the 200 m world champion at both the 2015 and the 2017 World Athletics Championships, the silver medalist in the 200 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 200 m champion in the 2016 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 and indoor) European titles. She won twenty-two Dutch titles (outdoor and indoor).
She was European Athlete of the Year in 2014 and 2015.
In 2023, Schippers announced her retirement as a professional athlete.
Early life Dafne Schippers was born on 15 June 1992 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Biografie , Homepage Daphne Schippers. Retrieved on 3 June 2015.Athlete Profile – Dafne Schippers, IAAF. Retrieved on 3 June 2015.
She started competing in athletics at the age of nine at the track and field club Hellas in Utrecht.
Career Heptathlon Schippers originally competed in the heptathlon and won gold medals at the 2010 World Junior Championships in AthleticsWomen's Heptathlon, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 24 July 2010 and 2011 European Athletics Junior Championships. At the 2010 World Junior Championships she also won a bronze in the 4 × 100 metres relay with her teammates Loreanne Kuhurima, Eva Lubbers and Jamile Samuel.Women's 4 × 100 m final, International Association of Athletics Federations – IAAF, 24 July 2010
In 2011 at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Schippers broke the Dutch national record in the 200 m in the heats in 22.69,Women's 200m - Heats - No surprises as Felix, Campbell-Brown and Jeter advance, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 1 September 2011 before finishing ninth in the semifinals, missing the final by 0.04 seconds. The 4 × 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 heptathlon Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, Austria, where she finished fifth. She also competed at the 2012 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Finland, finishing fifth at the 200 metres.Double delight for Ukraine in the 200m, European Athletics, 30 June 2012 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.Sailer leads Germany to relay glory, European Athletics, 1 July 2012
A year later, she started with third place at the Hypo-Meeting, with 6287 points.Canada's Warner and Theisen triumph in Gotzis, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 26 May 2013 Next, she won gold in the 100 m and bronze in the long jump at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships. At the subsequent 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Schippers won the bronze medal in the heptathlon, collapsing over the line after taking a massive seven seconds off her personal best in the 800 metres to see off Briton Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Germany's Claudia Rath for the bronze.Report: Heptathlon 800m – Moscow 2013, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 14 August 2013Melnychenko inspired to gold by blue and yellow, Eaton adds to family medal collection, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 14 August 2013 She became the first Dutch woman to win a medal in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships.
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.Hardee back on top, Johnson-Thompson breaks through in Gotzis, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 1 June 2014 At the European championships of 2014, Schippers won gold medals in the 100 m and the 200 m.Schippers: ik kan nog meer, NOS (13 augustus 2014) 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.Table-topping Britain win five golds on extraordinary last day in Zurich, European Athletics, 17 August 2014
Shifting to sprinting 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. In June 2015, Schippers announced via Twitter that she would focus on sprinting in the run-up to the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
The 2015 season had started well with a win in the 60 m at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Prague, Czechia.Schippers is the golden girl again, European Athletics, 8 March 2015 At the 2015 Beijing World Championships, Schippers won the silver medal in the 100 m and gold in the 200 m, just before Elaine Thompson.Report: women's 200m final – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, International Association of Athletics Federations – IAAF, 28 August 2015 Her 200 m winning time of 21.63 seconds was a new European record and made her the third fastest woman in history over that distance. 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.Report: women's 4x100m final – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 29 August 2015 In the heats the team had also run 42.32 s, a new national record.Report: women's 4x100m heats – IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 29 August 2015 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.Dafne Schippers' world championship success should not mean instant condemnation, The Guardian, 30 August 2015
Next year, she won the 100 m at the 2016 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 the 4 × 100 m relay with a national record of 42.04 s.Three golds leave Poland top of the final medals table, European Athletics, 10 July 2016
At the 2016 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 of Fanny Blankers-Koen who had dominated the sprint events at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games, winning four golds.Gold all the sweeter for Schippers after Rio heartbreak, International Association of Athletics Federations – IAAF, 13 August 2017 However, she finished fifth in the 100 m finalReport: women's 100m final – Rio 2016 Olympic Games, International Association of Athletics Federations – IAAF, 13 August 2016 and won the silver medal in the 200 m behind Elaine Thompson, who became the first woman for 28 years to complete the Olympic sprint double.Report: women's 200m final – Rio 2016 Olympic Games, International Association of Athletics Federations - IAAF, 17 August 2016 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. "I came here for gold", she told reporters, disappointment showing in her face. "I'm not happy with the silver." The Dutch relay team was eliminated in the heats due to a botched relay handover between Samuel and Schippers.Botched relay adds to Schippers' Rio misery, Reuters, 18 August 2016Report: women's 4x100m heats – Rio 2016 Olympic Games, International Association of Athletics Federations – IAAF, 18 August 2016
Change of coaches
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 guru Rana ReiderInside the camp of sprint guru Rana Reider, The Telegraph, 8 July 2017 and focus on the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, to defend her world title in the 200 m. After winning the bronze in the 100 m, she won the 200 m title, joining Jamaican Merlene Ottey and USA's Allyson Felix as the only athletes to successfully defend a world title in the event.Report: women's 200m final – IAAF World Championships London 2017, International Association of Athletics Federations – IAAF, 11 August 2017 "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." 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"The Flying Dutchwoman, Spikes, 10 March 2015 was on the 2018 European Athletics Championships at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. However, it was British sprinter Dina 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. Dafne Schippers eindigt als tweede op 200 meter bij EK atletiek, De Volkskrant, 11 August 2018 The 4 × 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. Samenwerking Schippers met Reider onder vergrootglas, Algemeen Dagblad, 11 August 2018 Reider suddenly left the National Sports Centre Papendal in the Netherlands in November 2018, and Schippers returned to her first coach, Bart Bennema. Schippers keert terug bij sprintcoach Bennema, NOS News, 28 November 2018
Schippers won a silver in the 60 m at the European Indoor Championships. At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Schippers had to withdraw before the final of the 100 m with an adductor problem. She subsequently withdrew from the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay.
In September 2023, Schippers announced her retirement as a professional athlete.
After retirement Schippers was a commentator for World Athletics at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, United Kingdom.