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Schippers: The Race Stops Here

Dutch sprint queen and two-time World champion Dafne Schippers has hung up her spikes at the age of 31.

Her career was plagued by injuries after she won back-to-back World titles in the 200m, and she never returned fully to her former glory days.

“The race stops here,” Schippers said in a post on Instagram. “As an athlete, you always know this day will come, that at one point, your career will be a moment in time — a collection of memories and hopefully medals.”

The tall, powerful heptathlete-turned-sprinter won a heptathlon bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow before she abandoned that discipline to win the 200m and silver in the 100m at the 2015 Beijing World Championships. Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson snatched the 200m race from her at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. In the absence of Thompson from the line-up, Schippers defended her 200m World title at the 2017 London Championships.

She continued to be a valuable backstretch runner on the Netherlands 4x1 relay squad.

Schippers thanked everyone for their endless support, noting that her journey has been without regret.