Jessica Ennis-Hill’s disgraced former coach Toni Minichiello makes a shock return to athletics – regardless of everlasting ban for sexual misconduct
- Toni Minichiello guided Jessica Ennis-Hill to gold at the 2012 London Olympics
- He was banned for life in 2022 after 11 counts of sexual misconduct were proven
- The ban does not stop him from working abroad and he has found a new client
Jessica Ennis-Hill’s former mentor Toni Minichiello has made a controversial return to coaching – despite being banned for life by UK Athletics.
Minichiello, who guided Ennis-Hill to glory at London 2012, was barred from being issued a UK coaching licence ever again after a 2022 investigation found he ‘engaged in sexually physical behaviour’ with athletes, including ‘unwanted touching’.
However, the sanction does not stop Minichiello from working overseas and he has now linked up with Polish heptathlete Adrianna Sułek-Schubert.
The Sheffield-born coach was spotted in the stands at the Combined Events Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland on Sunday, where his new athlete placed second in the indoor pentathlon.
Marek Plawgo, a vice-president of the Polish Athletics Association (PZLA), said in a statement: ‘PZLA declares that Adrianna Sułek-Schubert made the decision to cooperate with Toni Minichiello completely independently. Coach Minichiello is not financed by PZLA.’
Sułek-Schubert, 25, has previously won a silver in the heptathlon at the 2022 European Championships and a silver in the pentathlon at the 2022 World Indoor Championships.
Minichiello was Jessica Ennis-Hill’s coach when she won heptathlon gold at London 2012
He was banned from athletics after he ‘engaged in sexually physical behaviour’ with athletes
Polish heptathlete Adrianna Sułek-Schubert was coy when asked about her new coach
She gave birth to her first child last February and returned within six months to compete in the heptathlon at the Paris Olympics, where she finished 12th with 6,226 points.
Minichiello told Mail Sport that Sułek-Schubert contacted him asking for his expertise, given he had helped Ennis-Hill win the 2015 world title just a year after she gave birth.
‘She sent me a text and said, “Can you help me out?”,’ explained Minchiello. ‘I went over (to Poland) for three weeks to advise and support with the expertise and knowledge that I have got in terms of coming back.
‘She is a talented individual. If you lay the base right, she is a podium-level athlete. She is an adult and is well capable of making her own mind up about where she takes advice and the consequences.
‘I think it will continue. It would be nice to get a contract.’
Minichiello’s new partnership with Sułek-Schubert means he could now come face to face with British athletes at upcoming international events.
The Pole missed out on qualification for next month’s European Indoor Championships and is not targeting the World Indoors, but hopes to feature at the outdoor World Championships in Tokyo in September.
Minichiello, however, could be denied accreditation for the event by World Athletics given UKA’s findings against him in 2022.
‘World Athletics has the ability to deny accreditation to any of its World Athletics Series events should it be necessary,’ a World Athletics spokesperson told Mail Sport.
Minichiello was named Coach of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2012 following Ennis-Hill’s gold medal in London, which she backed up with a silver at Rio 2016.
Ennis-Hill’s former coach could be denied accreditations at the outdoor World Championships in Tokyo in September, with Sułek-Schubert (not pictured) hoping to feature at the event
He was named Coach of the Year at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in 2012
However, it emerged in 2021 that he had been suspended by UKA pending an investigation following complaints by female athletes about his behaviour.
In August 2022, Minichiello was found guilty of 11 serious charges, including mimicking sexual activity and touching an athlete’s breasts, as well as bullying and mental abuse.
While Minichiello’s coaching licence had already expired and so he could technically not be subject to a sanction, UKA said there would ‘never be a time in the future at which it would be appropriate to issue such a licence’.
Following the outcome of the investigation, Minichiello said: ‘I cannot fully express my disappointment with this decision and with UK Athletics’ unfair handling of this process. I strongly deny all the charges made against me.
‘I have been a coach for over 30 years and while I have been robust and demanding, I have not behaved inappropriately towards any of my athletes as very many of them would confirm.’
Ennis-Hill said at the time that the news about her former coach was ‘shocking and upsetting’. She added: ‘The allegations are awful and although I was never on the receiving end of any sexual physical behaviour, any such inappropriate behaviour or language has no place in any coaching or work environment.’
Minichiello was accused of breaching his ban in 2023 when he was spotted speaking with other coaches and athletes at an indoor at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. He was later sanctioned by the Sheffield City Trust, the operator of the venue.
UK Athletics declined to comment.
