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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡
What do you do for an encore, after winning two World Championships golds in the women’s 200 m, an Olympic silver and 22 national titles?
How about becoming a meet director?
That’s where Dutch sprint star Dafne Schippers, 32, is now, after retiring in 2023 following several years of injuries. She won the women’s Worlds 200 m in 2017 and 2019, an Olympic women’s 200 m silver in 2016 and 10 European Championships medals from 2014-19.
Now she’s running meets instead of running in them. She explained what she wants for the athletes who compete:
● “What I have always found very important is the peace and quiet in the call room. Everything has to run smoothly there and it shouldn’t be too busy. That means that the volunteers need to be well instructed but also that you shouldn’t be too strict with the rules.
“Especially at indoor competitions it is often quite confusing because many athletes are doing their warm-up at the same time in a small space. The different routes at the venues have to be very clear to everyone. We have to deal with this in a good way in Apeldoorn too, to ensure that there is as little stress as possible for everyone. It is really nice that European Athletics has agreed to start the event on Thursday evening so that the programme is a little less packed.”
● “Some organisers do not understand how important good food is for athletes to perform. But if there is one thing I am not worried about at a European Athletics Championships in the Netherlands, it’s the quality of the hotels and the meals.
“If something does not go quite as planned, we will be able to make adjustments quite quickly. I am approachable, I am close to the athletes and if possible I will arrange it, because we want to offer quality. The lines of communication are short.”
She reflected on the sudden change she went through in 2024 after competing at a world-class level since 2012:
● “For the last 15 years, my life was pretty much fixed with the same daily routines of training and competition. Every year, together with my coach, we set goals; these were the major events that you had in mind every day.
“Once you have to decide to stop performing at this top level, like I unfortunately had to do a year ago, you don’t immediately fill up those days with something new. And I didn’t want that either. I was looking for time and space to discover this new and different world.”
● “And this summer I was lucky to have had those opportunities. I was really thrown in at the deep end, both on radio and TV and also in different roles: commentator, interviewer and analyst. I sometimes thought: I can’t do this at all. But luckily I had experienced people next to me and your English doesn’t have to be perfect. It was really cool to get those opportunities.”
She also learned about being a member of the media instead of being the athlete: “I know that I could be quite grumpy myself sometimes when I had to speak to the press in the mixed zone after competition. But I also know that it is not always easy to have to answer questions ten minutes after finishing, while the adrenaline is still pumping out of your ears. Those are really difficult situations.”
All of that should help prepare Schippers for her role in Apeldoorn, working with Amy Kortbeek of the Dutch Athletics Federation. The European Indoors – a meet she competed in four times – is from 6-9 March 2025.
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