+++ PRESS RELEASE INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe 2019 +++ Fabian Dürr Phone: +49 0721 782045-261 E-mail: [email protected] European queen Dafne Schippers Karlsruhe, 15 January 2019 crowns the INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe With Mujinga Kambundji, her famous rival on the sprint track

When Dafne Schippers made her debut at the INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe almost six years ago, the then 20-year-old Dutchwoman came fifth in the 60- metre race. Even then, she was considered to be Europe’s great hope when it came to sprint competitions. In the meantime, Schippers has turned 26 and is not only one of the best sprinters in Europe, but also one of the world's best sprinters in the 100 and . Even sprinters from the USA and the Caribbean, regarded as unbeatable in the past, were left trailing behind Schippers at world championships. In 2015, she won gold in the World Championships in in the 200 metres, setting a new European record of 21.63 seconds. Two years later, she triumphed again in in the 200 metres. She also won four gold medals at European championships. In 2014, she became double European Champion in in both sprint races, and in 2016 she secured the title in , also winning gold in the 4x100 metre relay with her Dutch teammates. It was only the 2018 European Championship in that Dafne Schipper came away from empty-handed. In the 100 metres, she finished third behind Dina Asher-Smith from Great Britain and 's sprint star Gina Lückenkemper, and in the 200 metres she managed “only” second behind Asher- Smith. For Schippers, this was enough motivation to push herself even further. The former heptathlete, who holds the Dutch record in five disciplines, still has one major goal: to win an Olympic gold medal. In 2016, she was forced to let the Jamaican Elaine Thompson take the lead in Rio, but Olympic gold “is the one medal I haven't got yet. There is nothing I can do but to focus on myself and see what comes of it,” said Schippers in an interview.

Schippers was also decorated with precious medals at indoor championships. In 2015, she triumphed over at the European Indoor Championships in , and sprinted to silver at the 2016 Indoor World Championships in Portland. That was the year where it was also impossible to beat her at the INDOOR MEETING over 60 metres, just a year after she had been disqualified due to a faulty start.

At the INDOOR MEETING on 2 February, Schippers will compete against the Swiss Mujinga Kambundji, bronze medallist at the 2016 Outdoor Championships in Amsterdam, and whose biggest success to date is third place in the 60 metres at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham. The 26-year-old, Swiss indoor record holder over both 100 metres and 60 metres with times of 10.95 seconds and 7.03 seconds respectively, hopes to finally finish in the top three at her fourth INDOOR MEETING competition, something she has not yet been able to achieve. Fabian Dürr With the participation of Dafne Schippers and Mujinga Kambundji (both 60 Phone: +49 0721 782045-261 metres), the list of top athletes for the INDOOR MEETING on 2 February is only E-mail: [email protected] getting longer. In addition to Gesa Felicitas Krause, European Champion in the 3,000 metres, and star Cindy Roleder, as well as pole vaulter Lisa Ryzih Karlsruhe, 15 January 2019 and Ekaterini Stefanidi, current Olympic Champion, World Champion and European Champion in both indoor and outdoor competition, have secured their place at the INDOOR MEETING event in Karlsruhe. Meanwhile, European champion Mateusz Pryzbylko will be measuring up against the Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, the home star Julian Howard will be competing against current long-jump high-flyer and last year's champion Juan Miguel Echevarria from Cuba. Fabian Heinle and Kristin Gierisch, both long-jump and triple-jump silver medallists from Berlin 2018, will also be going for gold.

The 5,000 tickets for the INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe are sold out. A small number of tickets will still be available on the day. This is mainly due to technical blocks, as a result of which these tickets can only be released once the stands have been constructed. www.meeting-karlsruhe.de www.facebook.com/IndoorMeetingKarlsruhe www.twitter.com/INDOOR_MEETING www.instagram.com/indoormeetingkarlsruhe

IAAF World Indoor Tour 2019 stops: January 26, 2019: New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (Boston, USA) February 2, 2019: INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe (GER) February 6, 2019: Copernicus Cup (Torun, POL) February 8, 2019: Madrid Indoor Meeting (ESP) February 16, 2019: Müller Indoor Grand Prix (Birmingham, GBR) February 20, 2019: 14th International PSD Bank Meeting (Düsseldorf, GER)