6. DAFNE SCHIPPERS
2016 wasn’t the best of seasons for the ‘Flying Dutchwoman’, and Schippers will be looking forward to bouncing back in style in 2017. Since turning fully to the sprints from the Heptathlon a couple of years ago, the 24-year old has left no one in doubt as to how phenomenal she can be when in form as demonstrated by her outstanding performance at the 2015 World Championships where she raced to GOLD in the third fastest time ever in the 200m, clocking 21.63s.
To her credit though, it must be stated that Schippers enjoyed some successes in 2016 including setting a National Record (NR) of 7.00s in the 60m and winning Silver behind USA’s Barbara Pierre at the World Indoor Championships in Portland.
She also blew away the field in the women’s 100m final at the European Championships staged in her country, clocking an impressive time of 10.90s, before inspiring the 4x100m relay team to GOLD ahead of Great Britain. Not used to being beaten, Schippers succumbed to several defeats in the hands of Jamaica’s latest sprint sensation, Elaine Thompson both in the Diamond League (DL) and the Olympic Games.
Schippers competed in nine DL races (100m/200m), winning four of them and finishing 2nd in five. She placed a shocking 5th in the 100m final at the Olympics, and was beaten to the GOLD medal in her specialist race, the 200m, although she would take some solace in the fact that she ended up with Silver. She also won the Diamond Race in the 200m, so it wasn’t all gloomy for the sprinter.
However, Schippers is expecting a great comeback in 2017, especially as she has a title to defend at in London. She said: “I think that I’m not much of a person who looks back a lot: of course I can celebrate a victory or get really annoyed after a loss, but after either winning or losing I tend to look towards the future rather quick. Not in the least because only then I can influence the one thing that matters: work hard for the next race!”
