Schippers showing Dutch courage in job swap
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EVERY so often, an athlete appears on the scene who defies all expectations and alters what we think we know about track and field’s peculiarities.
Dutchwoman Dafne Schippers, 24, is one such individual. It was only two years ago that she made the full-time switch to the 100m and 200m having finished 12th in the heptathlon at London 2012.
And yet within a relatively short period of time, this 5ft 10in athlete has established herself as a world-class sprinter. Only last August she stormed to victory in the 200m at the World Championships in Beijing, adding gold to a silver earned in the 100m.
What also surprises is the fact she is European. Medals are usually the domain of sprint powerhouses like Jamaica and the USA.
Of the past eight Olympic women’s 100m finals, seven witnessed a North American or Caribbean athlete crossing the line first (including Marion Jones, who was retrospectively stripped of the 2000 title for using performanceenhancing drugs). In the 200m, it is also seven from eight. So Utrecht-born Schippers has gained worldwide fame since upsetting the world order.
“My life has changed completely,” she says. “It’s a new world now. When I walk on the street people know me, they talk to me, they ask for photos. It’s all fun. For a time it was difficult after Beijing because it was new, but it’s normal now. I can handle that.” Her profile could become even greater in Rio. She will aim for the sprint double as well as the relay with her Dutch team-mates, who are the European champions.
In the 100m, her biggest rival is Olympic and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica. In the 200m, she has a clear path after defending champion Allyson Felix failed to qualify. Dina Asher-Smith carries British hopes.
The busy schedule means Schippers will race eight times in seven days, something Usain Bolt did at both the Beijing and London Games.
Schippers believes her background in heptathlon, in which she would compete in seven events across two demanding days, will prove beneficial.
“I know I can do it,” she says. “I know my body is strong. That gives me confidence. In heptathlon, you are always tired, your body and your mind is tired. I have learned from the heptathlon to stay relaxed in those moments.
“I know I can run fast. All the training in the heptathlon has been good for my sprints.”
It is unfortunate, given so many high-profile failed drugs tests, that trust is disappearing in athletics. After her 200m world title, when she clocked, the third fastest time in history, she was not given the benefit of the doubt. Questions were inevitably asked.
Her coach Bart Bennema was adamant that doubt should not extend to his athlete and nor should anything be read into her acne, a side-effect associated with doping.
“If you walk down the street in Holland, I can point out 10 girls her age with that skin,” he said. “I understand it’s one of the things you have when you use something like doping, but sometimes you just have bad skin. It’s unfair. It’s in her family.”
Schippers, too, is an advocate of running fair. “It is good to work on clean sport. Organisations are working hard to do that,” says the sprinter.
‘My life has changed completely’