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Nadine Visser has made the last two Olympic finals in the women’s sprint hurdles, finishing fifth in Tokyo and then fourth in Paris. The Dutch athlete also has two European Indoor titles to her name amongst an impressive collection of medals won since her breakthrough championships, the World under-20s in Eugene in 2014.
Heading into the 2026 European Championships outdoors in Birmingham, there was something she finally wanted to put right. In three previous finals at the Championships, she hadn’t made the podium. Having so often been the top European finisher at the Worlds and the Olympics, that statistic was especially hard to take.
Birmingham 2026 was where Visser finally laid that disappointment to rest. She won the gold medal, but faced an agonising wait for confirmation of that fact as the officials studied the photo finish.
She takes us back to that night at the Alexander Stadium, explaining how and why it meant so much. The build up had been marred by injury, and she knew that the Dutch media would be ready to ask her why she’d once again failed to live up to her top billing if the gold slipped away once again.
This is a candid sharing of an athlete’s thought process as they prepare for a championships, and everything they weigh up when they consider whether it’s been a success.
Nadine Visser has been at the very top of her sport for more than 12 years; and that includes competing for several years as both an elite Heptathlete and a Sprint Hurdler. How has she maintained that level of success from 2014 to now, and what does she believe is still possible?
Photo: Women’s 100m hurdles medallists, from left, silver, Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland, gold, Nadine Visser of Netherlands and bronze, Laeticia Bapté of France during day two of the European Athletics Championships 2026 at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England. (Credit: Sportsfile via Getty Images)
