#2 | Race of 2015

No. 5 | No. 4 | No. 3 | No. 2 | No. 1

Without Allyson Felix, it wasnÂ’t supposed to be much of anything. 

Instead, itÂ’s our #2 Race of 2015. IÂ’m talking, of course, about the womenÂ’s 200m final at the World Championships in Beijing, which saw 23-year-old Dafne Schippers run 21.63 to set the World Championship record and establish herself as the third-fastest woman in history. Not only that, but this became one of the deepest races in womenÂ’s 200m history. 

Not bad 2015, not bad at all. 

With the three-time World champion Felix opting for the 4 in 2015, the 200m final was an afterthought. The American was the only woman to break 22-seconds in 2015 before this race, and only one Beijing finalist had ever dipped under the barrier period. Three sub-22s later, the script had been flipped.  

Schippers, who was a full-time heptathlete up until this season (she won bronze in the event in Moscow), became a sprint sensation in Beijing. Just four days prior to her 200m triumph, Schippers broke her own 100m Dutch national record for the fourth time in 2015, running 10.81 to nab silver behind the untouchable Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. That was great and all, but the 200m, well, that was flat out unbelievable. 

She lowered her PR by an unimaginable four-tenths of a second, and was suddenly behind only Flo-Jo and Marion Jones on the all-time list. One is a convicted doper (Jones) and the other was long rumored to have been dirty, so let your imagination take you where it will. Obviously, when someone cuts that much time off a PR like Schippers did, a steady amount of speculation will surround her as well. ThatÂ’s only fair. But as it stands, itÂ’s not a stretch to think this was the greatest individual 200m performance ever. 

Not even Allyson Felix— the reigning 200m Olympic champ and 2015 400m World champion—had ever run as fast as silver medalist Elaine Thompson of Jamaica did in Beijing, who was second in 21.66, fifth fastest in history. 33-year-old Veronica Campbell-Brown, twice an Olympic champion in the distance and the 2011 World champion, took bronze in 21.97, her fastest performance in over seven years. The track was simply on fire.

For a race that seemingly lacked star power entering the championships, it became only the second time in history that three sub-22s came from one race. If Felix wouldÂ’ve run, itÂ’s probably the greatest women's 200m in history.  

Rio canÂ’t come soon enough.