Dafne Schippers was sure two weeks ago that athletics was over.
“My parents went on holiday to Texel and I wanted to train there, but every day my body protested as soon as I was on the track. Then I knew; this is no longer worth it,” said the 31-year-old two-time world champion in the 200 meters, who surprised the athletics world with a short message on Instagram on Tuesday with her decision to end her career.
“It has of course been a process with a long run-up and many ups and downs,” she said at the Papendal sports center, where her talent germinated. “In recent months I noticed that I could no longer provide the training to become the very best in the world again and doubts haunted my mind. It took a long time before I was really convinced that my body could no longer cope.”
‘Injury upon injury’
She says she has done everything she can to get that body back, with which she amazed the world in 2015 with the world title in the 200 meters in a fabulous time of 21.63 seconds. “I have looked into everything in the medical field, consulted doctors at home and abroad to see if there were solutions. But every time things went better in training, there was another setback. It was injury after injury. I’ve tried everything and that’s nice, because I can accept it better now. I now also notice that I am slowly starting to realize what I have achieved and that is really absurd. I can look back on my career with pride, even though I quit because of something negative.”
That feeling of running at her fastest in a full stadium kept Schippers motivated. “When I think back about that now, I get goosebumps again. It is such an indescribable feeling and so unique to hear the Wilhelmus when you are the best in the world. I wanted to give everything for that and I was prepared to train my butts off day in and day out.”
‘Top speed still insane’
In recent years, Schippers has often received signals that she can still run very fast. “My top speed is still insane, but I can no longer bring it together in a race. The starting block is crucial for a perfect 100 meters, but I can no longer sit in the starting block thoughtlessly and without risk. It could just shoot me in the back again.”