Heptathlon Schippers originally competed in the heptathlon and won gold medals at the
2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics and
2011 European Athletics Junior Championships. At the 2010 World Junior Championships she also won a bronze in the
4 × 100 metres relay with her teammates
Loreanne Kuhurima,
Eva Lubbers and
Jamile Samuel. In 2011 at the
World Championships in
Daegu, South Korea, Schippers broke the
Dutch national record in the 200 m in the heats in 22.69, before finishing ninth in the semifinals, missing the final by 0.04 seconds. The
4 × 100 metres relay team (
Kadene Vassell, Schippers,
Anouk Hagen and Samuel) were eliminated in the heats in a national record of 43.44 seconds. In 2012, Schippers was invited to participate in the prestigious heptathlon
Hypo-Meeting in
Götzis, Austria, where she finished fifth. She also competed at the
2012 European Athletics Championships in
Helsinki, Finland, finishing fifth at the 200 metres. The race was disappointing after she had won her heat in 23.01 s and recorded the fastest semi-final time of 22.70 s. The Dutch 4 × 100 m relay team (
Kadene Vassell, Schippers,
Eva Lubbers and Samuel) were second in 42.80 s, a national record, behind the German team. A year later, she started with third place at the Hypo-Meeting, with 6287 points. Next, she won gold in the 100 m and bronze in the
long jump at the
2013 European Athletics U23 Championships. At the subsequent
2013 World Championships in
Moscow, Schippers won the bronze medal in the
heptathlon, collapsing over the line after taking a massive seven seconds off her personal best in the 800 metres to see off Briton
Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Germany's
Claudia Rath for the bronze. She became the first Dutch woman to win a medal in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships. At the
European championships of 2014, Schippers won gold medals in the
100 m and the
200 m. The 4 × 100 m relay team, one of the favourites for the title, did not finish in the final due to a botched first baton change.
Shifting to sprinting Her success at the 2014 European Athletics Championships prompted discussion over her long-term prospects and whether she should focus on sprinting, or continue her career in the heptathlon. In June 2015, Schippers announced via
Twitter that she would focus on sprinting in the run-up to the
2015 World Championships in Athletics in
Beijing, China and the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). held in
Beijing. The 2015 season had started well with a win in the 60 m at the
2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships in
Prague, Czechia. At the 2015 Beijing World Championships, Schippers won the silver medal in the
100 m and gold in the
200 m, just before
Elaine Thompson. Her 200 m winning time of 21.63 seconds was a new
European record and made her the third fastest woman in history over that distance. The Dutch 4 × 100 m relay team (
Nadine Visser, Schippers,
Naomi Sedney and Samuel) finished fifth in 42.32 s, but was disqualified for a changeover infringement. In the heats the team had also run 42.32 s, a new national record. Her stunning victory opened her up to scrutiny about possible doping. There were questions about the acne on Schippers back and face, which can be a sign of steroid abuse. Most insiders, however, dismissed those claims, pointing out that the acne was hereditary in the family and the fast track in Beijing. Next year, she won the
100 m at the
2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam with time of 10.90 s, by 3 tenths of a second. The Dutch team led by Schippers, with Samuel,
Tessa van Schagen and anchor runner Naomi Sedney won the
4 × 100 m relay with a national record of 42.04 s. At the
2016 Rio Olympics expectation was high that she would add an Olympic title to the gold medal at the 2015 World Championships, following in the footsteps of
Fanny Blankers-Koen who had dominated the sprint events at the
1948 Summer Olympic Games, winning four golds. However, she finished fifth in the
100 m final and won the silver medal in the
200 m behind Elaine Thompson, who became the first woman for 28 years to complete the Olympic sprint double. After defeat in the 200 m, Schippers remained forlorn on the side of the track for a while, took off her spikes and hurled them to one side in frustration.
Change of coaches . After the disappointment of Rio, Schippers decided to change. She parted with Bart Bennema as her coach, who had overseen her transition from an outstanding heptathlete, winning bronze in the World Championships Moscow 2013, into a successful 100 m and 200 m sprinter. Both felt that she had to try a different approach to progress, and so she decided to join U.S. coach and sprint guru
Rana Reider and focus on the
2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, to defend her world title in the
200 m. After winning the bronze in the
100 m, she won the 200 m title, joining Jamaican
Merlene Ottey and USA's
Allyson Felix as the only athletes to successfully defend a world title in the event. "It's a great feeling to be world champion for the second time," she said. "I was a bit nervous beforehand, but I'm a final runner, and bring my best in finals, so I'm very grateful for the experience today. There were so many Dutch fans in the stadium, all wearing orange. To win this two times in a row is brilliant." was on the
2018 European Athletics Championships at the
Olympiastadion in Berlin. However, it was British sprinter
Dina Asher-Smith who became the star of the sprint there, winning gold on both the 100 m and 200 m, as well as the 4 × 100 m relay. Schippers won a bronze in the 100 m and a silver in the 200 m. The
4 × 100 m relay team with Schippers,
Marije van Hunenstijn, Samuel and Sedney also finished second. Due to the disappointing results, the collaboration between Schippers and Reider came under scrutiny. Although Reider did prepare her for her special second world title at 200 m and bronze at 100 m at the 2017 World Championships, many other races looked rigid and she had lost her most important weapon, the 'acceleration' in the end. Due to increased power training she became more muscular, but on the track this did not lead to improvements. She could not improve her 2015 top chrono's. Reider suddenly left the
National Sports Centre Papendal in the Netherlands in November 2018, and Schippers returned to her first coach, Bart Bennema. Schippers won a silver in the
60 m at the
European Indoor Championships. At the
2019 World Championships in
Doha, Schippers had to withdraw before the final of the
100 m with an adductor problem. She subsequently withdrew from the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay. In September 2023, Schippers announced her retirement as a professional athlete. ==After retirement==