2. DAFNE SCHIPPERS
Despite achieving several ground breaking feats in less than two years of focusing solely on the sprints, it is almost certain that Dafne Schippers still has much more to offer, giving an insight to the depth of talent possessed by this multi-talented athlete. The Moscow 2013 Bronze medallist in the Heptathlon has since found a new passion in the 100m/200m, emerging European sprint DOUBLE champion in 2014.
She was quite competitive in the DL this year, competing twice in the 100m (Paris and London) and thrice in the 200m (Lausanne, Monaco and Brussells). Schippers placed 4th in Paris with a time of 11.02s but was outstanding in London, racing to victory with an NR of 10.92s, while Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare and Murielle Ahouré clocked 10.98s and 11.01s respectively.
She went against reigning Olympic champion Allyson Felix in Lausanne where the American took the lead with 22.09s while Schippers set an SB of 22.29s. She further lowered her time to 22.09s at the Monaco DL where she followed USA champion Candyce McGrone who won the race with a PB of 22.08s. Schippers looked certain to medal in both the 100m/200m at the World Championships and fans were anxious to see how the Dutch athlete would fare.
First was the 100m where she quickly sailed through the heats and semis in 11.01s and 10.83s (NR), setting the 2nd fastest time overall in the semis. The much anticipated final saw her coming a close 2nd to Fraser-Pryce, further lowering her NR to 10.81s while Tori Bowie claimed Bronze. The stakes were much higher in the 200m but Schippers was equal to the task.
As usual, she came from behind to seal the victory with a powerful finish which saw her setting a new European Record (ER) of 21.63s, propelling her to No.3 on the all-time list while 2nd placed Elaine Thompson edged out Felix to occupy 5th place on the list. Schippers recorded a morale boosting win over Felix in the final DL in Brussels though the latter eventually won the trophy. She was named the European Female Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive time and is the first woman to achieve this feat.
