The 40th edition of the FBK Games &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Hengelo looks set to be celebrated with fireworks on the track and field on Sunday (6), with talk of world and meeting records at the pre-event press conferences.
The Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion is where Sifan Hassan set her European 10,000m record of 29:36.67 last October and the double world champion is looking to go even faster. That time moved the 28-year-old to fourth on the world all-time list and when asked if she might also be aiming for the world record on Sunday, Hassan replied: &ldquo;Maybe, who knows! It could be.&rdquo;
On whether she will set off on a pace targeting Almaz Ayana&rsquo;s 29:17.45 from the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Hassan added: &ldquo;I have to talk to my coach and manager. Sometimes I will change my mind the day before, if I feel good.&rdquo;
The Dutch athlete has been training in Kenya and then Utah, USA, over the past few months, and believes she is in her best ever shape.
&ldquo;When I look at my training, I have never been so good,&rdquo; said Hassan, who confirmed she will be looking to double up &ndash; probably in the 5000m and 10,000m &ndash; at the Olympics in Tokyo. &ldquo;I have never seen myself so good, but I don&rsquo;t know how that will show in competition. My speed is still not as great as before but endurance &ndash; I have never seen myself as I am now. I want to run a PB but it is sometimes hard for athletes to say &lsquo;I will run this&rsquo; because competition and training are not the same.&rdquo;
Another athlete looking for a strong performance on home soil is Dafne Schippers, as the two-time world 200m gold medallist also builds towards Tokyo.
&ldquo;I am feeling okay, this weekend is a very nice competition for me,&rdquo; said the 28-year-old, who opened her 100m season with 11.38 at the adidas Boost Boston Games street meeting. &ldquo;I always need a couple of competitions to go faster and faster, so I hope to go faster than my last competitions.&rdquo;
She forms part of a strong 100m field alongside Britain&rsquo;s world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and Nigeria&rsquo;s world and Olympic medallist Blessing Okagbare.
&ldquo;I always like to compete with the best in the world and it&rsquo;s very special to have names like Dina and Blessing in a race like this,&rdquo; added Schippers. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to have in the Netherlands. I like to compete with them.&rdquo;
<h3>Asher-Smith excited for Hengelo return</h3>
Six years on from her first senior national 100m record in Hengelo, Asher-Smith returns to the Dutch city as a multiple global medallist looking to build on her opener at a wet and windy Gateshead.
The 25-year-old Briton was a dominant force at the Gateshead International Stadium two weeks ago, battling pouring rain and a -3.1m/s headwind to win the 100m in 11.35. There she finished clearly ahead of world leader Sha'Carri Richardson, multiple world medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Okagbare, and she has her sights set on another strong race in more favourable conditions. 
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 &ldquo;Hopefully it will be a little less windy, cold and wet!&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited to be running in Hengelo and over the 100m again. I don&rsquo;t quite know what to expect in terms of, I don&rsquo;t think what kind of number I would want from a race, I just try and go in and run the best race that I can, which was a very useful mindset to have in Gateshead because times were not happening that day!
&ldquo;I have had a good winter and I feel good, so hopefully if the weather is kind to us it could be a really good Sunday.&rdquo;
On returning to the scene of her 11.02 in 2015 &ndash; a British record she has since taken to 10.83 &ndash; Asher-Smith added: &ldquo;I have really fond memories of Hengelo for two reasons. One, it was the first time I broke the British record. The record was 11.05 and I did 11.02 in 2015, so I have really fond memories of being in Hengelo for that reason.
&ldquo;I also really enjoyed racing Dafne there. I think as a professional athlete it was my first experience of being in a race when a really big star is racing at home. It was just so nice to hear the crowd cheering like that. Even though I was a competitor in the race it&rsquo;s still nice to see a crowd really cheer and get behind their home athlete.&rdquo;
Although the crowd will be reduced this year because of Covid-19 restrictions, organisers will still be welcoming 1500 fans to the stadium to cheer on the world-class fields.
<h3>Duplantis ready for Hengelo debut</h3>
Also among those keen to make the most of the crowd support will be world pole vault record-holder Mondo Duplantis as he looks to return to winning ways after a rare loss in Gateshead.
Undefeated in 23 competitions, Sweden&rsquo;s Duplantis was beaten by two-time world champion Sam Kendricks and the weather at the Diamond League meeting last month and although his US rival will not be competing in Hengelo, Duplantis could get one back by breaking the meeting record and Dutch all-comers&rsquo; record of 5.91m set by Kendricks in 2019. 
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 &ldquo;I definitely have a lot of motivation going into this competition because I&rsquo;m coming off a loss right now and I want to get back to winning,&rdquo; said the 21-year-old. &ldquo;I want to show what I can do and try to put up something high. Sam&rsquo;s not going to be there but I guess a way to get back at him would be to take his meeting record!&rdquo;
On the significance of this event on his road to Tokyo, Duplantis added: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s super important because I have just four competitions left until the Olympics and every one is just as important as the other &ndash; figuring out my jump, the technique, my run, trying to get the rhythm and the timing of the jump down because I want everything to be perfect when it comes to the Olympics.&rdquo;
Having fans in the stadium provides an added boost. &ldquo;In Gateshead it was super amazing having the spectators right alongside us there,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had that kind of energy from the crowd in quite a while, since the indoor 2020 season. Of course, it&rsquo;s going to be limited right now and they are not going to be able to have full capacity meets, but it&rsquo;s really great to have people there watching you. It just brings an extra piece of motivation for you when you&rsquo;re out there jumping in front of real people instead of just cameras.&rdquo;
In Hengelo there will also be home stars for the fans to support and asked about Dutch record-holder Menno Vloon, who cleared 5.96m indoors in February, Duplantis replied: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a real explosive vaulter. On any given day you never know what to expect from him.
&ldquo;I know a lot of my competitors are capable of really high heights on any given day. Especially going into this meet in the Netherlands, on Menno&rsquo;s home turf, I don&rsquo;t see why he can&rsquo;t go out there and jump something really high.&rdquo;
Sandra Perkovic is another athlete hoping her event can provide a show in Hengelo. Croatia&rsquo;s two-time Olympic champion takes on two other global winners in Cuba&rsquo;s 2019 world gold medallist Yaime Perez and 2015 world champion Denia Caballero, and they will be joined by Portugal&rsquo;s Liliana Ca and Melina Robert-Michon of France.
&ldquo;Last year was really tough for all of us because we didn&rsquo;t have the Olympics and we didn&rsquo;t have any strong meets, so this year when I started to compete &ndash; first in Doha &ndash; and saw all the other girls, I was happy to finally be all together in one place chasing for that goal and the goal is to win," said Perkovic.
&ldquo;I expect a nice fight (on Sunday), especially with the Cubans and also the girl from Portugal and of course the silver medallist from Rio 2016, so it is going to be a very good competition for me.&rdquo;
Like Asher-Smith, Perkovic has fond memories after achieving a milestone moment in Hengelo.
&ldquo;In 2007 it was my first time in Hengelo, at the European Junior Championships, and that is the place I threw my junior national record which at that time was 55.42m," she said. "I am happy to be back in this stadium and this place &ndash; 14 years later I am still here and still competing, so I am excited.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

The 40th edition of the FBK Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Hengelo looks set to be celebrated with fireworks on the track and field on Sunday (6), with talk of world and meeting records at the pre-event press conferences.

Hassan eyes world record, Duplantis ready to soar in Hengelo

Five-time winner Anita Wlodarczyk will return to the Istvan Gyulai Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Szekesfehervar on 6 July.
Poland&rsquo;s two-time Olympic and four-time world hammer champion was dominant in Szekesfehervar between 2014 and 2018, before injury forced her to end her 2019 season early. The world record-holder then missed 2020 and is making a comeback this year as she targets the defence of her Olympic title in Tokyo.
Wlodarczyk is among a number of global medallists heading to Hungary, with her compatriot Piotr Malachowski &ndash; the 2015 world discus champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist &ndash; also among the athletes recently announced for the event.
They will be joined by two-time world champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands (200m), the USA&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medallists Ashley Spencer (400m hurdles) and Clayton Murphy (800m), Canada&rsquo;s Olympic and world 4x100m medallist Aaron Brown (200m), the USA&rsquo;s world 4x400m champion Wadeline Jonathas (400m), Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic and world 4x400m medallist Stephenie Ann McPherson (400m) and the USA&rsquo;s world 4x100m champion Mike Rodgers (100m).
Australia&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Brandon Starc and Ukraine&rsquo;s 2014 world indoor medallist Andriy Protsenko have been announced for the high jump, while Poland&rsquo;s multiple world 4x400m medallist Justyna Swiety-Ersetic will race the 400m and her compatriot Wojciech Nowicki &ndash; the multiple Olympic and world medallist &ndash; contests the hammer.
Azerbaijan&rsquo;s 2019 European indoor champion Nazim Babayev contests the triple jump, Estonia&rsquo;s 2014 European silver medallist Rasmus Magi is set for the 400m hurdles and the Netherlands&rsquo; two-time European indoor champion Nadine Visser will race the 100m hurdles.
Hungarian 800m champion Balazs Vindics, long jumper Diana Lesti and hammer thrower Daniel Raba will be among the athletes competing on home soil.
Among those previously announced for the meeting are 2017 world discus champion Andrius Gudzius, world 200m bronze medallist Mujinga Kambundji and 2007 world high jump champion Donald Thomas.

Five-time winner Anita Wlodarczyk will return to the Istvan Gyulai Memorial, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Szekesfehervar on 6 July.

Wlodarczyk among global medallists set for Szekesfehervar

Double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and multiple world medallist Marie-Jos&eacute;e Ta Lou, will go head to head over 100m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha on Friday 25 September 2020.
The three women have met at this meeting on two previous occasions. Thompson-Herah triumphed over 200m in 2017, clocking 22.19 into a -2.3m/s headwind with Schippers finishing second and Ta Lou placing third.
They clashed again one year later, this time over 100m, and Ta Lou came out on top, running 10.85. Thompson-Herah was third on that occasion and Schippers was sixth.
But the last time they were in the Khalifa Stadium was for last year&rsquo;s World Championships, where Ta Lou took 100m bronze, just 0.03 ahead of Thompson-Herah. Schippers, meanwhile, was forced to withdraw from the final through injury.
Thompson-Herah&rsquo;s season&rsquo;s best of 10.88 set in Kingston on 8 August is the second fastest of the year to date.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to be able to race at home over the summer, but nothing beats the thrill of lining up in an overseas, international meet,&rdquo; said the Jamaican. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait to get back on the circuit, especially as part of a quality field in Doha where I&rsquo;ve really enjoyed competing in the past.&rdquo;
Ta Lou will be looking to build on her Wanda Diamond League performances in Monaco and Stockholm where she finished fourth (11.39) and third (11.32) respectively, while Schippers will make her season&rsquo;s debut over 100m in Doha.
Doha&rsquo;s Qatar Sports Club will host the revised 12-event programme &ndash; the final competitive meeting of the truncated 2020 Wanda Diamond League season &ndash; which includes sprint hurdles and 800m for both men and women; 100m, 3000m and long jump for women; and 200m, 400m, 1500m and pole vault for men.
Organisers for World Athletics

Double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and multiple world medallist Marie-Josée Ta Lou, will go head to head over 100m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha on Friday 25 September 2020.

Thompson-Herah, Schippers and Ta Lou set to clash in Doha

Pawel Fajdek may be competing in the shadow of compatriot Wojciech Nowicki this season, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean the four-time world champion is competing as a shadow of his former self.
Sitting just fifth on the world season&rsquo;s list with a modest 78.61m, Fajdek will step into the throwing circle at tomorrow&rsquo;s Skolimowska Memorial World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, the biggest competition of his season, without an 80-metre throw on his season&rsquo;s scorecard. That hasn&rsquo;t happened since 2011. He&rsquo;s hoping it won&rsquo;t happen this season, but even if it does, it&rsquo;s hardly a signal that the 31-year-old is losing the Midas touch that&rsquo;s helped him secure the last four world titles. Like many athletes this year, he&rsquo;s just gone light on training.&nbsp;
When it became clear in March that the Coronavirus pandemic would wipe out much of this year&rsquo;s competitive calendar, Fajdek tookd it as a sign to scale back and give his body a break. Choosing to look ahead to 2021, he didn&rsquo;t train for three months. With no elusive Olympic medal to chase this year, 2020 became a year for rest.
&ldquo;I know my age and I know my goals and I know my body&rsquo;s limits,&rdquo; Fajdek said, speaking through an interpreter. &ldquo;And I want to be ready for next year and the Olympics.&rdquo;
An Olympic medal of any colour is the only item missing from Fajdek&rsquo;s hefty trophy case, but he&rsquo;s also looking to add others as well. &ldquo;After next year I want to be ready for Oregon and a fifth world title, and then two years after that, maybe a sixth.&rdquo;
His efforts to scale back notwithstanding, Fajdek said he is in shape to throw 80 metres tomorrow.&nbsp;
&ldquo;That of course may not be enough for the victory,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;with Wojciech Nowicki in the competition, who is in very strong form.&rdquo;
Nowicki, the bronze medallist at the last three World Championships and at the 2016 Olympic Games, is undefeated in five competitions this season, and has thrown beyond 80 metres twice in the last 12 days, 80.09m and 80.28m, the second best throw in the world this season.
<h3>Will Kendricks&rsquo; momentum continue?</h3>
Meanwhile, two-time world champion Sam Kendrick and Piotr Lisek will resume their rivalry in the pole vault where Kendricks is looking forward to more high bars after his 6.02m clearance, the second highest of his career, in Lausanne on Wednesday.
&nbsp;
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Sam Kendricks and Piotr Lisek ahead of the Skolimowska Memorial</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;That 6.02m in Lausanne was a good competition,&rdquo; Kendricks said. &ldquo;We always get together and jump well so I hope he and I can do the same tomorrow.&rdquo;
Indeed they do. Kendricks has beaten Lisek in their last four meetings but pushed his rival to back-to-back six-metre efforts last year in Lausanne and Monaco, where the Pole topped 6.01m and 6.02m.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to take a page out of Piotr&rsquo;s book from 2019,&rdquo; said Kendricks, who didn't jump higher than 5.82m in each of five outdoor appearances this season prior to Lausanne. &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t start too well last year but then went on to jump 6.02m in Monaco. And that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m trying to do this year.&rdquo;
For his part, Lisek ambitions aren&rsquo;t quite as lofty. He just wants to make it to the runway.
Nursing a minor hamstring strain, Lisek has been sidelined from his last two competitions: last weekend&rsquo;s national championships and Wednesday&rsquo;s Diamond League event in Lausanne. But he desperately wants to compete.
&ldquo;I really do want to compete and be ready to fight for the victory,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is an important competition for us, for Polish athletes. So it&rsquo;s important for me to compete here.&rdquo;
Two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers also isn&rsquo;t making any predictions. But competing for the just the third time this season and for the first time in the 100m, she&rsquo;s eager to find out what she&rsquo;s capable of.
&nbsp;
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Dafne Schippers in Silesia</div>
&nbsp;
&ldquo;I like to compete in new places so I&rsquo;m really looking forward to it,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I feel good.&rdquo;
Not good enough though, to challenge the 11.01 meeting record set by Jamaican Carrie Russell in 2013.
&ldquo;Maybe if we have a really good wind, and some really nice sunshine,&rdquo; she joked, when asked by meeting director Marcin Rosengarten if a meeting record assault was in the works.
The overnight forecast calls for rains through the evening, at times heavy, but clearing my mid-morning. The afternoon is expected to be cloudy, but Schippers will be happy to know that some sun could peak through.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

Pawel Fajdek may be competing in the shadow of compatriot Wojciech Nowicki this season, but that doesn’t mean the four-time world champion is competing as a shadow of his former self.

Fajdek: ‘I’m ready to throw 80 metres’

Organisers of the Istvan Gyulai Memorial have announced that two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and double world triple jump silver medallist Pedro Pablo Pichardo are among the latest additions to the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesfehervar on 19 August.
Schippers, who was forced to cut short her 2019 season through injury, will compete in Hungary for the first time in her career and will contest the 200m, the event in which she holds the European record of 21.63.
Pichardo, meanwhile, will renew his rivalry with world and Olympic champion Christian Taylor, whose participation in the triple jump was announced last month. Alexis Copello, the 2009 world bronze medallist, is also in the field.
Lithuania&rsquo;s 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius will take on world bronze medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger in the men&rsquo;s discus, while European champion Wojciech Nowicki has been confirmed for the men&rsquo;s hammer, an event in which he&rsquo;ll face four-time world champion Pawel Fajdek and fellow world bronze medallist Bence Halasz. Hungary&rsquo;s 2013 world U18 champion Reka Gyuratz will compete in the women&rsquo;s hammer.
Elsewhere, world bronze medallist Pascal Martinot-Lagarde takes on 2017 world bronze medallist Balazs Baji in the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, while the women&rsquo;s long jump field features 2015 world silver medallist Shara Proctor, world finalist Shakeela Saunders, Hungarian champion Anasztazia Nguyen and European U23 silver medallist Petra Farkas.
To help keep in line with the restrictions that are still in place in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, organisers have reduced the programme to just 13 disciplines, with the 400m the longest running race to ensure separate lanes for all competitors. The international programme includes the men's 100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, triple jump, discus and hammer, and the women&rsquo;s 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, long jump and hammer.

Organisers of the Istvan Gyulai Memorial have announced that two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and double world triple jump silver medallist Pedro Pablo Pichardo are among the latest additions to the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesfehervar on 19 August.

More global medallists added to Szekesfehervar line-up

The Muller Grand Prix 200m will be one of the highlights of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on 18 August.
Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, multiple world and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, two-time world champion Dafne Schippers and triple European champion Dina Asher-Smith will all take to the start line at Birmingham&rsquo;s Alexander Stadium next month.
Miller-Uibo, who beat Asher-Smith and Schippers in the 200m in Birmingham last year, has been undefeated across all disciplines since the 2017 Muller Grand Prix. So far in 2019, the Bahamian has clocked a world 300m best of 34.41, a 200m season&rsquo;s best of 22.09 and a world-leading 49.05 for 400m.
Following the birth of her first child in 2017, Fraser-Pryce is back to her best this year. The Jamaican shares the 100m world lead of 10.73 and has notched up a series of wins on the IAAF Diamond League circuit. This will be her first 200m race at an IAAF Diamond League meeting since 2014.
Following her successes at the European Championships last year, Asher-Smith has carried her incredible form into 2019, winning the 200m at the IAAF Diamond League meetings in Doha and Stockholm and clocking a 100m season&rsquo;s best of 10.91.
Schippers comes off the back of a disappointing disqualification in the women&rsquo;s 100m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London, hoping to bounce back with a quick time over her preferred distance.
&ldquo;The atmosphere at the M&uuml;ller Anniversary Games in London last week was great,&rdquo; said Asher-Smith. &ldquo;I expect the same energy from the crowd in Birmingham.
&ldquo;The British fans are exceptional and the athletes really appreciate the support. It pushes us to even better performances. With the World Championships in Doha getting closer, the M&uuml;ller Grand Prix Birmingham is positioned perfectly to help me prepare and fine turn my performances.&rdquo;
Other athletes in the field include world silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, 2013 world bronze medallist Blessing Okagbare, US champion Dezerea Bryant and British youngster Amy Hunt, who clocked a world U18 best of 22.42 earlier this year.
Organisers for the IAAF

The Muller Grand Prix 200m will be one of the highlights of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on 18 August.

Star-studded 200m clash in Birmingham – IAAF Diamond League

Two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers will race in Spain for the first time in her career when she lines up for the 60m at the Madrid Indoor Meeting &ndash; part of the IAAF World Indoor Tour &ndash; on 8 February.
The Dutch heptathlete-turned-sprinter holds the European 200m record outdoors with the 21.63 clocking she produced to win the 2015 world title. But she is also one of the fastest ever European women indoors at 60m; her best of 7.00 puts her equal third on the European all-time list.
Less than a month after racing in Madrid, the 26-year-old will be aiming to regain her European indoor crown at the distance, having won in 2015 in 7.05. She went on to take world indoor silver one year later in 7.04.
Organisers of the Madrid Indoor Meeting will announce more top names in the coming days.
Organisers for the IAAF

Two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers will race in Spain for the first time in her career when she lines up for the 60m at the Madrid Indoor Meeting – part of the IAAF World Indoor Tour – on 8 February.

Schippers to make Spanish racing debut in Madrid 

World 200m champion Dafne Schippers will square off against Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain in the 60m dash on 25 February at the M&uuml;ller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow, the sixth and final stop on the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Tour.
Dutchwoman Schippers retained her world title over 200m and captured bronze in the 100m at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 last summer, while Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman ever over 100m and 200m, finished fourth in the 200m and was part of the British women&rsquo;s 4x100m relay squad that won silver.
With a combined 19 senior international medals between the pair, the 60m is sure to be one of the hottest events at Glasgow&rsquo;s Emirates Arena, where two qualifying heats will decide which eight athletes will then do battle for victory in the day&rsquo;s final.
&ldquo;I competed the first time the Grand Prix was in Glasgow back in 2016 and both the stadium and atmosphere were incredible," said Schippers, the European 200m record holder at 21.63 who also nabbed world indoor 60m silver in 2016. "I always really look forward to meetings in the UK, so to be in the field for the 60m in Glasgow is really exciting.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We have some very strong female sprinters in the world at the moment and Dafne is certainly one of them," Asher-Smith said. "My aim over the next few years is to keep improving and turn my 4th and 5th places into podium finishes. The races in Glasgow are sure to be great.
&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ll be up against some seriously quick girls, but I got the win last time and I&rsquo;ll be going for the same result this time around."
Organisers for the IAAF
2018 IAAF World Indoor Tour 3 Feb &ndash; Karlsruhe 6 Feb &ndash; D&uuml;sseldorf 8 Feb &ndash; Madrid 10 Feb &ndash; Boston 15 Feb &ndash; Torun 25 Feb &ndash; Glasgow

World 200m champion Dafne Schippers will square off against Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain in the 60m dash on 25 February at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow, the sixth and final stop on the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Tour.

Schippers and Asher-Smith to square off in Glasgow 60m

Twelve months ago in Rio de Janeiro, after lying despondent on the side of the track for some time, Dafne Schippers got up, took off her spikes and flung them to one side in frustration.
As the third fastest 200m runner in history, she was expected to add the Olympic title to the gold medal she won at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015, but defeat to Jamaican Elaine Thompson left her irritated and confused. Her ambitions were lofty and silver was no longer good enough for the Dutch woman.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a bit more pressure on me to perform since winning in Beijing,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;A lot of that pressure is put on me by myself as I always want to win regardless of what I&rsquo;ve done before.&rdquo;
Fast forward one year, and the 25-year-old is back on top of the world. In claiming the 200m title at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 on Friday night, Schippers became the first European to win two gold medals over the half-lap distance, and joins Jamaican Merlene Ottey and USA&rsquo;s Allyson Felix as the only athletes to successfully defend a world title in the event.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling to be world champion for the second time,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I was a bit nervous beforehand, but I&rsquo;m a final runner, and bring my best in finals, so I&rsquo;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.&rdquo;
With Olympic Champion Elaine Thompson opting not to contest the 200m at these championships, Schippers&rsquo; main challenge came from Ivory Coast&rsquo;s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who finished ahead of the Dutch woman in the 100m five days earlier. On this occasion the roles were reversed with Schippers edging a close race in 22.05 seconds, just 0.03 ahead of Ta Lou.
&ldquo;During the first 100m I could not see anybody because I was in lane six and was in front of the rest,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Once I hit the straight I saw Ta Lou right there to my left and I just had to fight as much as possible to the finish line to stay ahead of her. I knew she&rsquo;d be a tough competitor. She ran a very good 100m earlier in the championships, so I&rsquo;m very happy to manage to beat her today.&rdquo;
<h3>Coaching change</h3>
After her defeat in Rio, Schippers opted for a change. With Bart Bennema as her coach, she had transitioned from a world-class heptathlete, winning bronze in the IAAF World Championships Moscow 2013, into a multi-medal-winning 100m and 200m sprinter. However they both felt that to progress, she had to try something different, and so she joined up with Rana Reider, and his group containing Christian Taylor, Adam Gemili and Desiree Henry among others.
&ldquo;It was not the easiest season for me,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;When you change coach everything is different. I changed a lot in my training and I worked very hard this season.&rdquo;
Working with Reider, the focus was purely on peaking for London. As a result she entered races on the IAAF Diamond League circuit this year during periods of heavy training, and her times early season were slower than she is used to running.
&ldquo;I just had to trust the process and that I would eventually progress. I believed in my coach and I just did what he said. He&rsquo;s a great coach and I couldn&rsquo;t be happier with how everything has turned out.&rdquo;
<h3>Hometown support</h3>
While she&rsquo;s a fearless competitor on the track, away from the high-pressured arena of elite athletics she cuts a much more reserved figure, preferring a simple life of walking her dog and reading, rather than higher adrenaline interests. However, since her first world title in Beijing two years ago, she has found it much harder, back home in the Netherlands, to live the normal quiet life she craves.
&ldquo;Since Beijing it&rsquo;s been totally different,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;When I walk on the streets people want to get photos or autographs. It has become a lot more normal for me now, but at the beginning it was difficult to deal with that. But at the same time, it&rsquo;s also really cool because it means I&rsquo;ve done a great job.&rdquo;
Her performances over the past few years have not gone unappreciated in her home country. In April of this year, a new pedestrian and cycle bridge, named after her, was opened in her home city of Utrecht. One hundred and 10 metres long, it crosses the Amsterdam Rijn Canal, connecting the city centre with the growing suburbs and serves approximately 11,000 cyclists per day.
&ldquo;To have a bridge named after me is a very special thing,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the most important bridge in our country. It&rsquo;s very special to have my name on that.&rdquo;
After her success in London, they may need to rename of the canal too.
James Sullivan for the IAAF

Twelve months ago in Rio de Janeiro, after lying despondent on the side of the track for some time, Dafne Schippers got up, took off her spikes and flung them to one side in frustration.

Gold all the sweeter for Schippers after Rio heartbreak

Reigning 200m world champion Dafne Schippers will go head-to-head with Britain&rsquo;s finest sprinters in a post-world championship celebration showdown at the M&uuml;ller Grand Prix Birmingham on Sunday 20 August.
A host of Olympic and world medallists will compete at the&nbsp;IAAF Diamond League meeting, which will include Mo Farah&rsquo;s last ever track race on home soil.
Schippers will take on Britain&rsquo;s fastest ever woman Dina Asher-Smith and European Indoor 60m champion Asha Philip over 100m at the Alexander Stadium.
The Dutch sprint star will be hoping to have added more world medals to her collection over both 100m and 200m in London the week before.
&ldquo;The M&uuml;ller Grand Prix Birmingham will be a fantastic celebration for the athletes and a fitting end to an amazing season of athletics in the UK," Schippers said.
&ldquo;It will be great to have a race later in the season against the best sprinters in a fun and celebratory atmosphere and I know the athletes will put on a spectacular show for the crowd.&rdquo;
Olympic high jump silver medallist Mutaz Barshim of Qatar will also compete at the M&uuml;ller Grand Prix Birmingham, against home favourite and long-term rival Robbie Grabarz. Barshim has a fantastic record in Birmingham -- he won this event in a stadium record 2.38m in 2014 and also cleared 2.37m in 2016.
Grabarz finished in joint fourth behind Barshim in Rio last year and was joint Olympic bronze medallist with the Qatari athlete and Derek Drouin of Canada at London 2012.&nbsp;
Barshim and Birmingham-based Grabarz will each want to come out on top at both the IAAF World Championships and the Diamond League meet on 20 August.
Barshim, the 2013 world silver medallist, said, &ldquo;I love competing in the UK so to have another chance to compete there at the M&uuml;ller Grand Prix Birmingham is fantastic.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I hope I will be celebrating winning another World Championship medal by the time I get to Birmingham and I will be trying my best to jump well.&rdquo;
Organisers for the IAAF
2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar: 5 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 13 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 27 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 8 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 15 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 18 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 1 Jul &ndash; Paris, FRA 6 Jul &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 9 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 16 Jul &ndash; Rabat, MAR 21 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 20 Aug &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 24 Aug &ndash; Zurich, SUI 1 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL
&nbsp;

Reigning 200m world champion Dafne Schippers will go head-to-head with Britain’s finest sprinters in a post-world championship celebration showdown at the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham on Sunday 20 August.

Schippers and Barshim join Birmingham fields - IAAF Diamond League

There aren&rsquo;t many athletes who can upstage Usain Bolt in all his pomp. But Kendra Harrison did just that at the 2016 London Diamond League 12 months ago when the slight young hurdler from Tennessee lowered one of the sport&rsquo;s longest-standing world records with a peerless run of personal redemption after she had failed to make the US team for the Rio Olympics.
A year on, Harrison in back in the British capital where she now tops the bill in her own right for the M&uuml;ller Anniversary Games, the ninth IAAF Diamond League meeting of the season, to be held on Sunday 9 July at the London Stadium.
The circumstances could hardly be more different, for this will be the first of two visits to the east London venue in the space of a month for the 24-year-old who secured the US title two weeks ago and safely booked her passage to August&rsquo;s IAAF World Championships London 2017.
There is little doubt Harrison will start as favourite to win her first global gong after running a world leading time of 12.28 in Hungary on Tuesday, almost two-tenths of a second quicker than her nearest rival, and she is expected to pick up her second Diamond League win of the season here on Sunday despite the presence of five fellow Americans who also feature in this year&rsquo;s world top 10.
They include Sharika Nelvis, who came out on top in Lausanne on Thursday, plus Jasmin Stowers and Nia Ali, who rank second and third in the world this year, the World Championship-bound Christina Manning, and Olympic bronze medallist Kristi Castlin.
Among those facing this awesome US onslaught is Sally Pearson, the Australian who took the Olympic title on the banks of the River Lea five years ago and is one of a number of London 2012 gold medallists making the annual pilgrimage back to the scene of their greatest triumphs.
<h3>Farah&rsquo;s 3000m tune-up</h3>
Another of those is Britain&rsquo;s own Mo Farah, of course, whose outing over 3000m will conclude the meeting, a neat piece of programming no doubt designed to whet the British public&rsquo;s appetite for the coming World Championships where the two-time double Olympic gold medallist will run his last competitive track race.
Farah is also one of 12 reigning Olympic champions in action this weekend, while the meeting boasts some 23 silver and bronze medallists from Rio, plus 11 current world champions, many of them competing for the last time on the circuit before London calls them back once more from their faraway towns.
<h3>Thompson vs Schippers at 100m</h3>
Indeed, the line-ups for many of Sunday&rsquo;s events read like previews of the World Championship finals, not least the women&rsquo;s 100m where Rio sprint sensation Elaine Thompson lines up against world 200m champion Dafne Schippers, who was &lsquo;merely&rsquo; a young heptathlete at the London 2012 Games, and Britain&rsquo;s European 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, the London 2012 kit-carrier seeking a London 2017 qualifying time as she bounces back from injury.
Thompson has already been in blistering form this year, her world leading 10.71 at the Jamaican championships a fortnight ago coming between sub-11 Diamond League victories in Shanghai and Paris.
But Schippers has a brace of 200m wins under her belt so far, and has specifically targeted a 100m medal at the Worlds after taking silver in Beijing two years ago. The Dutch flyer has also been under 11 seconds and has fond memories of the London Stadium having clocked a national record of 10.92 here two years ago.
Michelle-Lee Ahye is in record form herself, setting a new national best at the Trinidad and Tobago championships last month, and together with Ivory Coast&rsquo;s world silver medallist Murielle Ahour&eacute; could well challenge the principal pair.
<h3>Lasitskene looking for 17th win of the season&nbsp;</h3>
Talking of principals, few athletes stand head and shoulders above their rivals quite as clearly as Mariya Lasitskene at the moment. The high jumper, who competes as an authorised neutral athlete, appears on course to retain her world title after clearing 2.00m or more seven times during the outdoor season, topped off with a world leading personal best and Diamond League record of 2.06m in Lausanne on Thursday.
With a warm afternoon expected, Lasitskene could even threaten the world record as she seeks her 17th win of the year against Spain&rsquo;s Olympic champion Ruth Beitia, US wonder kid Vashti Cunningham, the 19-year-old world indoor champion, and Britain&rsquo;s in-form youngster Morgan Lake.
The women&rsquo;s pole vault is another loaded field with all three Rio medallists &ndash; Ekaterini Stefanidi, Sandi Morris and Eliza McCartney &ndash; plus world champion Yarisley Silva and Britain&rsquo;s Holly Bradshaw in the line-up.
Meanwhile, the long jumps feature Olympic champion Jeff Henderson against Damar Forbes, Tadek Juska and Tyrone Smith in the men&rsquo;s, and Tianna Bartoletta versus Lausanne victor Ivana Spanovic in the women&rsquo;s.
<h3>Kolak riding strong momentum</h3>
Elsewhere in the field, Croatia&rsquo;s surprise Olympic javelin champion and 2017 world leader Sara Kolak takes on Czech world record holder Barbora Spot&aacute;kova and Germany&rsquo;s world champion Katharina Molitor just three days after beating both in Lausanne with a national record.&nbsp;
World leader Daniel St&auml;hl seeks maximum discus points against the four throwers below him on this year&rsquo;s list &ndash; Jamaican record holder Fedrick Dacres, Lithuanian Andrius Gudzius, Philip Milanov of Belgium and Poland&rsquo;s ever-present Robert Urbanek.
The men&rsquo;s sprint hurdles brings world record holder Aries Merritt back to the scene of his 2012 Olympic triumph where he will take on Britain&rsquo;s ever-improving Andy Pozzi and Frenchman Garfield Darien, who won in Ostrava last week.&nbsp;
The one-lap hurdles feature US Olympic champions, Dalilah Muhammad in the women&rsquo;s event and Kerron Clement in the men&rsquo;s where world leader Kyron McMaster will start as favourite.
<h3>Muir vs Obiri in the mile</h3>
A women&rsquo;s mile clash between Britain&rsquo;s Laura Muir and Kenya&rsquo;s Hellen Obiri takes top billing among the middle distance events with Muir expected to target Zola Budd&rsquo;s long-standing British record of 4:17.57.
Nijel Amos lines up against Asbel Kiprop for the men&rsquo;s 800m in the stadium where he so memorably chased David Rudisha in that remarkable Olympic final, and USA&rsquo;s Charlene Lipsey seeks yet another PB in the women&rsquo;s two-lapper just three days after lowering her best for the sixth time this season.
In the men&rsquo;s sprints, US 400m champion Fred Kerley drops down to 200m to take on the new British champion Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, while Kim Collins and Isiah Young face a largely British field in the 100m. Britons feature heavily in the men&rsquo;s 400m too, while Allyson Felix returns to action alongside Natasha Hastings in the women&rsquo;s one-lap event.
Matthew Brown for the IAAF

There aren’t many athletes who can upstage Usain Bolt in all his pomp. But Kendra Harrison did just that at the 2016 London Diamond League 12 months ago when the slight young hurdler from Tennessee lowered one of the sport’s longest-standing world records with a peerless run of personal redemption after she had failed to make the US team for the Rio Olympics.

London calling again for hurdler Harrison – IAAF Diamond League

Sara Kolak may yet have to suffer being called the surprise Olympic champion every time her Rio exploits are recalled but she reinforced the fact that it was no fluke in emphatic fashion when she twice extended her national record at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on Thursday (6), finishing with a world-leading 68.43m with her final effort.
In balmy conditions with just the gentlest of breezes to help the javelin throwers, Czech world record holder and two-time Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova opened with a world-leading 67.40m to show there is still some fight and flight left in her arms.
In many competitions, that would have more than sufficed for victory but Kolak showed that she is a formidable competitor as well and gradually improved over the first three rounds: 63.94m, 64.64m and then her first national record of the night, 66.65m to add 47cm to her previous record, which was set in Rio.
By contrast, after her big opening throw, Spotakova seemed to lose a bit of her spark but Kolak never threw in the towel. After a foul and a fifth round throw of 65.78m, she then unleased her massive effort to take the lead and usurp Spotakova.
Spotakova had the very last throw of the competition but, with all eyes in the stadium on her, she fell short with 64.59m.
&ldquo;The performance did not surprise me,&rdquo; reflected Kolak, who clearly knew something the rest of the world didn&rsquo;t.
&ldquo;I want to go step-by-step from here. Stay healthy. Build my strength and make it to the final in London,&rdquo; she added, expressing a rather modest ambition from her current position on top of the world lists. &ldquo;I am writing my own story in my out-of-the-box way. People in Croatia have high expectations and I want to live up to that.&rdquo;
In a competition of excellent depth, Australia&rsquo;s Kathryn Mitchell took third place with a personal best of 66.12m in the fifth round.
<h3>Meeting record for Crouser</h3>
In sharp contrast to the outcome of the women&rsquo;s javelin, Ryan Crouser dominated the men&rsquo;s shot put from the outset.
Throwing last of the 10 men in the first three rounds, Crouser watched Tom Walsh reach 21.97m three efforts earlier before sending his shot out to 22.18m.
It would have been sufficient for the win but then, after a foul and a lacklustre &ndash; by his exalted standards &ndash;&nbsp; 21.56m, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games champion really came into his own over the final three rounds.
He equalled his first round distance with his fourth attempt and then unleased his implement out to a meeting record of 22.39m before finishing with 22.35m.
If Crouser was just a little way adrift of his impressive form of Rio and, more recently, US Championships where he set a personal best of 22.65m it is worth noting that he put together a rarely seen series with four puts over 22 metres.
<h3>Schippers holds of Ta Lou</h3>
Dafne Schippers fulfilled her role as favourite for the women&rsquo;s 200m and won in a European-leading 22.10 but she was chased all the way to the line by Marie-Josee Ta Lou, running one lane inside her Dutch rival, who set an Ivory Coast record of 22.16.
In fact, Ta Lou just managed to edge in front of Schippers for a few strides with 50 metres to go but then Schippers responded and, as has happened so often, found another gear and clinched the victory.
Believe it or not, Aman Wote had not won an international outdoor 1500m race since 2013 but from the confidence the Ethiopian exuded in Lausanne over the final lap, you would have thought that he was rattling off victories on a weekly basis.
Hitting the front just before the bell as the pacemaker Elijah Kiptoo stepped to one side, Wote had a lead of 15 metres over the rest of the field.
Running scared, or that&rsquo;s how it seemed, Wote then held on to cross the line in 3:32.20.
Behind him, and closing quickly, with the rest of the field hunting him down in similar fashion to the way the Tour de France peloton consumes a breakaway rider, the fast-finishing Charles Simotwo almost caught Wote and was rewarded with a personal best by more than three seconds as he finished second in 3:32.59.
Another Ethiopian to triumph in Lausanne was Genzebe Dibaba.
Her widely-publicised attack on the long-standing mile world record of 4:12.56, held by Russia&rsquo;s Svetlana Masterkova since 1996, started to unravel just before the halfway point when she was a second adrift of the desired pace and she came home in 4:16.05, having had to run the last 600 metres on her own.
Nevertheless, she could not be faulted for effort and although the women&rsquo;s mile is staged much less frequently than the men&rsquo;s event and it was not a Diamond Discipline on this occasion, only four women &ndash; including Dibaba herself &ndash; have run faster than that time.
<h3>Nelvis in a tight finish</h3>
Sharika Nelvis got the verdict in a blanket finish in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles, running 12.53 after a strong second half of the race to edge out her compatriots Jasmin Stowers and Christina Manning, who were second and third in 12.57 and 12.58 respectively.
Some of the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for local hero Kariem Hussein, who memorably won the 2014 European 400m hurdles title on home soil in Zurich.
In his best race in his specialist event for two years, he won the non-Diamond Discipline in 48.79.
Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Sara Kolak may yet have to suffer being called the surprise Olympic champion every time her Rio exploits are recalled but she reinforced the fact that it was no fluke in emphatic fashion when she twice extended her national record at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on Thursday (6), finishing with a world-leading 68.43m with her final effort.