Jessica Ennis" coach Toni Minichiello slams UK Athletics for "lack of respect"

Posted on February 10, 2013 by adminsports

Ennis coach slams UK Athletics and claims 'lack of respect' forced him out the door

By
Martha Kelner

PUBLISHED:

20:18 GMT, 9 February 2013

UPDATED:

21:49 GMT, 9 February 2013

Jessica Ennis' coach, Toni Minichiello, has cut all ties with UK Athletics, claiming he felt ‘bullied’ and ‘not respected’ and alleging that chief executive Niels de Vos had not even congratulated him after Ennis won Olympic gold last summer.

Minichiello had been offered a consultancy role within UKA after his old job came to an end last month.

But Minichiello, who has coached Ennis since she was 12, has turned down the role after relations between him and De Vos and head coach Peter Eriksson soured.

Winning relationship: Toni Minichiello will continue to coach Jessica Ennis

Errikson said last month that Minichiello had been offered a new job and it was his decision to ‘take it or leave it’.

That jarred with Minichiello, who was at the European Indoor Championship Trials in Sheffield yesterday.

‘He said take it or leave it and I left it,’ he said. ‘It reflects what
their attitude and position is on what I’ve achieved in coaching.

‘What I’ve done with Jess, coaching her from such a young age, is
unique. You look at that statement and it shows a lack of respect. I
felt bullied and I’m sick and tired of that.’

No respect: Minichiello believes the terms he was offered from UK Athletics were disrespectful

Minichiello will continue to coach Ennis as she targets the World Championships and the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Pay me or don’t pay me, I am still going to coach Jess,’ he said.

Swede Eriksson, who took over from Charles van Commenee as head coach,
said Minichiello’s offer was worth more than his previous job.

‘He had a better financial offer than when he was a full-time employee,’
he said. ‘We gave him a better offer to coach one athlete and he turned
it down. That’s his choice, if he doesn’t want the job, that’s fine.’

No respect: Minichiello believes the terms he was offered from UK Athletics were disrespectful

Minichiello disagreed with Eriksson’s interpretation, saying: ‘It was
actually a reduction in my overall salary compared with the financial
package I was getting before.’

But it was the lack of validation that really hurt Minichiello.

‘After the Olympics, I got floods of congratulations, but there were two
notable absentees — Niels and Ed Warner, the chairman,’ he added. ‘At
no point did they pat me on the back, it was pretty clear they didn’t
rate me even after that success.’

Golden girl: Minichiello fears that his time with Ennis could be limited if he has to look for other work

A UKA statement said: ‘We made Toni a good offer to continue working
with us, but he has decided he would prefer to coach independently.

We have no issue with that and absolutely respect his decision. His
track record with Jessica is superb and if he feels his decision is the
best way to maintain success, then we respect that.

‘We’ll continue to support Jess and Toni 100 per cent with all training, medical and support services.’

Priority: Head of UKA Niels de Vos confirmed they would still be working very closely with Ennis

Jonathan Edwards blasts Jessica Ennis "fat" comments

Posted on May 30, 2012 by adminsports

It is appalling to call Ennis fat! Olympic legend Edwards blasts disparaging remarks

UPDATED:

22:26 GMT, 29 May 2012

Olympic triple-jump gold medallist Jonathan Edwards has branded comments about Jess Ennis being fat 'appalling'.

The 26-year-old's coach Toni Minichiello revealed last week a 'high-ranking' person within UK Athletics made the remarks about the heptathlete.

And Edwards, who won gold in the 2000 Games in Sydney said: 'It's an appalling word to use. If you have concerns over somebody firstly they should be private for something as sensitive as that but you don't use emotive words like fat.'

Jessica Ennis

Jonathan Edwards

Support: Edwards (right) has hit out at disparaging remarks made about Ennis

Neil Wilson

Ennis beat her main rivals for gold and broke Denise Lewis's British record at Gotzis last weekend.

Edwards added: 'It was the perfect riposte. Jess is not going to have the physique of a sprint-hurdler because she's got to do the shot put and the javelin so she has to get a balance between having some muscle bulk to do the heavy throws as well as be fast to do the hurdles, the 200m, the long jump and also the 800m. She looks fabulous.'

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS: Can Jessica Ennis be a Games wonder woman?

Posted on May 29, 2012 by adminsports

Why Ennis is just inches from becoming a… Wonder Woman

UPDATED:

22:04 GMT, 28 May 2012

An Olympic gold medal would be the achievement of a lifetime for Jessica Ennis. Or would it

Could it be that we can start thinking now of the possibility that she will become only the second woman in the history of heptathlon to surpass 7,000 points in winning an Olympic crown

You could call it the heptathletes’ four–minute mile but hundreds of moderate runners have achieved a four-minute mile.

Sky's the limit: Jessica Ennis competes in the high jump in Gotzis

Only three women have surpassed 7,000 points and only one, the greatest of them all, world record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee, did it at an Olympic Games.

That is the historic possibility for Ennis after she passed 6,900 in Gotzis at the weekend, breaking Denise Lewis’s 12-year-old British and Commonwealth record by a margin of 75 points.

Just how close she is to joining the triumvirate of Joyner-Kersee, Carolina Kluft and Larisa Turchinskaya in the pantheon of 7,000-point scorers is revealed in a single statistic.

Hitting form at the right time: Ennis could break the 7,000 point mark at the Olympics

Had Ennis equalled her own personal best of 1.95 metres in the high jump, she would have gone beyond 7,000 already.

Her coach Toni Minichiello smiles at the suggestion.

He said: ‘I’m sure you will be obsessively talking about 7,000 points and when it’s going to happen, but that’s a little bit different. You get to a point where you stand on the edge of stuff and you say to yourself, “Here’s an opportunity to make that step”, so you take it when you can.’

But he concedes there are solid grounds for improvement in that Gotzis score of 6,906.

Room for improvement: Ennis says she can improve her javelin performance

‘Javelin, yes. I think the shot will give us a bit more, long jump there is a bit more,’ he added. ‘The 200metres — if there is a bit more I’ll be chuffed to little mintballs, but 800m can be better. So there’s some bits and pieces.

‘There’s a bit of slack in there. The javelin is a work in progress. I think we can do better in the high jump. We’ll see.’

Ennis’s personal bests in each event add up already to 7,068.

The tough part is putting all seven together in the same competition.

As Kluft, who surpassed 7,000 twice, said: ‘Everything has to be good. You can’t do a bad event. You have to do well in all seven.’

Will she be No 1 at the Games Ennis celebrates after winning the women's Heptathlon in Goetzis

The great heptathlete is a mix of muscles and skills.

The demands of the events are all in conflict, the speed and explosiveness of the sprinter, the endurance of the 800m runner, the raw strength and bulk of the shot putter and the flexibility of the high jump. And then you have to acquire the skill to launch a javelin.

But Ennis is at the right moment in her life to put it together, in her athletic prime at 26, and heading into a home Olympic Games where the support will be massive.

On top of the world: Ennis is in good form just months away from the Olympics

Another question exists. Under the pressure of British expectation, will she be able to put it all together again in London

The world champion, Tatyana Chernova, whom she beat into second place in Gotzis by 132 points, feels she can reverse their placings in London.

She said: ‘I won at the World Championships and I know I can do it again.

‘It was my first heptathlon of the season so I’m happy and think everything went well.

‘I don’t worry about Jessica because I didn’t beat any of my personal bests here, so if I do in London I’ll have better points than I scored here.’

The greats

Then there’s Nataliya Dobrynska, the 2008 Olympic champion, who was back in ninth place in Gotzis and clearly overweight and under-trained after her husband and coach Dmitry Polyakov died from cancer in March, aged just 48.

‘Nataliya is a strong woman, the Olympic champion, and she can come back,’ predicted Chernova. ‘The Olympics will show who is the strongest of us.’

Minichiello will give Ennis this week off from training to recover before she sharpens up for a 100m hurdles in Oslo on Thursday week. For her coach it is back to the drawing board to devise a programme covering the final 10 weeks before Stratford on August 3.

‘I’ve had 20 minutes of enjoyment and now I am back to earth,’ he said. ‘She can enjoy it a little longer. I have to start planning.

‘It’s a nervous week for me. I have to put pen to paper and decide what we are doing.
‘Hopefully winning is a habit and she is back in the habit.’

Jessica Ennis romps to victory in hurdles in Gotzis

Posted on May 26, 2012 by adminsports

Impressive Ennis hurdles into lead in Gotzis with stadium record

UPDATED:

11:03 GMT, 26 May 2012

Jessica Ennis has made the perfect start to the defence of her heptathlon title at the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis – and this time there were no nasty surprises.

Ennis, who on Friday shrugged off claims from an unnamed GB athletics official that she is 'fat', was quick out of the traps in Gotzis.

Superior: Jessica Ennis (left) eased to victory the hurdle event of the heptathlon

On her last competitive appearance at the event, Ennis seemingly ran a personal best of 12.75 seconds in the 100m hurdles, only to later discover that just nine hurdles instead of the required 10 had been set out on the track.

Lean: Ennis quashed claims that she was out of shape by romping to victory in the hurdles

This time all 10 hurdles were present and correct – her coach Toni Minichiello making a point of counting them personally – and Ennis cleared them all in 12.81secs to win the final heat.

That was just 0.02secs outside her personal best, making it her joint second quickest ever run and also a stadium record, while also being worth a 32-point lead over Canada's Jessica Zelinka.

Russia's Tatyana Chernova was 79 points behind in fourth, and Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska 170 points adrift after finishing last in her heat.

Dobrynska revealed on Friday that her training had been understandably disrupted by the death of her husband and coach Dima Polyakov two months ago.

Jessica Ennis laughs off "fat" comments

Posted on May 25, 2012 by adminsports

Golden girl Ennis scoffs 'fat' jibes after angry coach slams top UK official

UPDATED:

12:26 GMT, 25 May 2012

Pah: Jessica Ennis laughed off 'fat' jibes

Former world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis has laughed off reports that a senior figure at UK Athletics has described her as fat ahead of this summer's Olympics.

Ennis's coach Toni Minichiello claimed that an unnamed 'high-ranking person' within the governing body said the 26-year-old was 'fat and she's got too much weight'.

'I'm not going to go into that right now. It's not an issue at all,' Ennis told reporters in Gotzis, where she will compete in her only full heptathlon before the London Games weekend.

'It's definitely a funny one, but it's not an issue.'

Minichiello said the comments came amid perceived intrusion in Ennis' preparation for the Olympics from 'people in fairly high positions, who should know better'.

He admitted that people were trying to be helpful, but added in The Guardian: 'I get e-mails, phone calls, text messages and voicemails giving me advice on what I should be doing with Jessica Ennis that's going to make a difference. It's a lot of background noise that you can get easily distracted by.

'I've never had any issue with her weight or shape. There are times I've wished she was taller, but that's it.'

Golden girl: Ennis will have great hopes

While Minichiello was concerned about possible distractions as Ennis looks to bounce back from losing two world titles in the space of seven months, the Sheffield athlete added: “I don't think so.

'I think I came into this year expecting different things to happen, different articles and things like that. So I think if you come into it expecting those kind of things then it's not such a shock when you read things like that.

'I obviously see things. Things come up on Twitter and I read things. But I try not to focus too much on reading all the articles; just kind of get on with it, laugh it off really.

Class act: Ennis (centre)

'It's not something I worry out. It's not something that's stressing me at the moment so I can kind of just brush it off and ignore it really.'

UK Athletics declined to respond to Minichiello's comments, which originated from an interview conducted in November last year.

Minichiello said today it was 'ludicrous' to describe Ennis as fat, but conceded his “defensive” attitude towards an athlete he has coached since she was 11 sometimes comes across the wrong way.

London calling: Ennis is one of Britain's great golden hopes for this summer's Olympics

'I am an easily frustrated individual and my support of Jessica is huge really,' he said. 'Having had a relationship since she was such a young age, my problem is I'm incredibly defensive of that and of her and sometimes when that comes out it comes out in the wrong way I think.

'I hope people understand my motivation behind it and understand it's aimed to be for the best, but quite often it's not perceived in that way.'

Great shape: Ennis will be in action this weekend in Austria

Asked if everyone was now pulling in the same direction, the 45-year-old added: 'Yeah, I think we've got everything we need at this point and this weekend will hopefully show that most of that's come to fruition.

'(Biomechanist) Paul Brice is here so we're going to pick up a lot of data from that and allow me to write the next 10 weeks of training into London to get that right.

'I'm a little bit nervous about putting pen to paper, it depends on what figures we come out with and how we move forward, but touch wood it's all pretty good – which means I've probably jinxed the weekend now.'

Looking ahead: Ennis will be going for glory this summer in the capital

Ennis will face the two women who have taken her world titles this weekend, with Russia's Tatyana Chernova having triumphed in Daegu last year and Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska winning the pentathlon at the world indoors in Istanbul in March with a new world record.

Four years ago Ennis endured Olympic heartache when she suffered a double stress fracture in her right foot in Gotzis, ruling her out of Beijing, but since returning to the small Austrian town in 2010 she has won the event twice in succession.

Jessica Ennis is not fat, says coach

Posted on May 25, 2012 by adminsports

Ennis is not fat! Coach hits out at UK official who criticised golden girl

UPDATED:

23:42 GMT, 24 May 2012

Top condition: Jessica Ennis

Jessica Ennis' coach Toni Minichiello has hit out at a top UK Athletics official over a 'fat' jibe.

Minichiello, who has coached the heptathlete since she was 11 years old, revealed that a 'high‑ranking person' had suggested 'that she's fat and she's got too much weight'.

Minichiello dismissed the criticism, and added that both Ennis' weight and body fat percentage had remained constant in recent times.

He told The Guardian that 'people in fairly high positions, who should know better' were guilty of adding to a slew of unwanted distractions, although he admitted that the people in question were 'trying to be helpful'.

Minichiello said Ennis is a class act whose consistency will pay dividends at the Olympics.

But Minichiello also concedes a gold medal in the heptathlon could still be beyond his athlete's control over the two days of competition in London.

Ennis was a hot favourite for gold on home soil after winning world titles indoor and out in Berlin and Doha respectively and following that with another triumph at the European Championships in Barcelona in 2010.

However, she has since lost both world titles in the space of seven months after inspired performances from two of her rivals, a situation which does give Minichiello pause for thought, despite his faith in Ennis' abilities.

Class act: Ennis (centre)

'She is a class act,' Minichiello said. 'Every championships she has been to since 2009 she has been on the podium.

'She has been on podiums and showing an upward profile and I think we are continuing to do that. I'm pleased with the progress we are making, but in the back of my mind you can't legislate for what others do.

'She was in great shape in Istanbul (for the world indoors in March) but suddenly Nataliya Dobrynska breaks the world record.

'That's what Olympic year does. It goes steady and then there is this huge hike because people start to buzz. They think “This is the winter I need to get serious, this is the winter I need to train,” and I think we've seen that from the indoors.

'We have seen improvements in some of our first-day events in the shot, the hurdles and an indoor PB (personal best) of 6.47 metres in the long jump and I am hoping there is going to be a bit of improvement across the board.

'Whether that's going to be good enough I really, really don't know. She could score 6,900 points, which would be a British record and massive PB, and still finish second or third.

Golden girl: Ennis will have great hopes

'There is nothing you can do about the opposition. They will do what they do and improve how they improve.'

Ennis will contest her only full heptathlon before London at this weekend's Hypo Meeting in Gotzis, where she is seeking a third straight win.

And with the 26-year-old's main rivals for Olympic glory also on the start line in Austria, Minichiello admits the result on Sunday will be significant.

'Gotzis is much closer to the Olympics than it has been to the major championships before because there is only about 11 weeks left, so your performance there is important,' he added.

'I think normally what happens is that whoever is in the top three or four there is going to be the top three or four in the Olympics.

'A win in Gotzis doesn't naturally mean you're going to win (the following major championship) as you saw last year, but if Jess wins this year though it does mean she's going to win!'

London 2012 Olympics: WIN chance to set personal best at Olympic Stadium with Powerade

Posted on April 5, 2012 by adminsports

WIN the chance to set your personal best in the Olympic Stadium – courtesy of Powerade

UPDATED:

07:56 GMT, 5 April 2012

Sportsmail has teamed up with Powerade to offer two lucky readers a chance of a lifetime to set their personal best at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

On Thursday May 3, 2012 Powerade will be giving a select group of people access to run the 100m on the track at the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, with the fastest runners setting their own ‘Personal Bests’ in the stadium that will host the track and field events at this summer’s eagerly awaited Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Their Olympic Stadium experience, courtesy of Powerade, will include a tour of the track, the opportunity to get a unique insight into preparation and training plus coaching expertise from Jessica Ennis’s coach Toni Minichiello, and the chance to run 100m on the same track that athletes will be competing on during the Games in July and August.

Furthermore, this incredible prize includes one night’s stay at a hotel in London, a welcome letter from Jessica Ennis, a bespoke Powerade shirt and a goody bag including an image of you running on the track and a unique medal. The prize will also include the opportunity for you to bring a friend/family member to cheer you on during the session.

Powerade will be hydrating Team GB and ParalympicsGB during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. All participants will be given their own Powerade Olympic Games Sports Bottle, the same bottle that will be used by the athletes during the Games. The bottle is also available for free with every promotional bottle of Powerade ION4 and Zero purchased between now and the Games.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply answer the following question:

Which event will Jessica Ennis be competing in at the Olympics
A) Heptathlon
B) Swimming
C) Handball

E-mail your answer, along with your name, address and contact number to:

sportcomp@dailymail.co.uk

to arrive by 3pm on Wednesday April 11.

PLEASE NOTE: You must validate your entry with the words POWERADE COMP in your subject box; normal Associated Newspapers terms and conditions apply – the Editor's decision is final. UK residents only. Entrants must be 16-year-old and over. Full terms and conditions from the provider are listed below.

For more information about the competition, follow @PoweradeGB on Twitter.

Enlarge

WIN the chance to set your personal best in the Olympic Stadium - courtesy of Powerade

Powerade London 2012 Olympic Stadium Experience Competition
Full Terms and Conditions

‘LOCOG’ means The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited.

1. This promotion is open to residents of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), the Isle of Man and Channel Islands only, excluding employees of Coca-Cola Great Britain, Coca-Cola Enterprises Limited, their agents and anyone else professionally connected with this Promotion and/or with the London 2012 Olympic Games.

2. All entrants must be aged 16 years or over. Winners under 18 years of age will need to be accompanied to the Powerade Olympic Stadium Experience by an adult.

3. Closing date for entries is Wednesday April 11. There are a total of 2 Olympic Stadium Experience places available to be won.

4. All winners will be awarded a place at the Powerade Olympic Stadium Experience on 3rd May. Winners must be available to attend on 2nd and 3rd May. Winners will also be allowed to bring one guest to the event. Guests will attend as spectators only, and will not take part in the activities on the track in the Olympic Stadium.

5. Winners who are chosen and contacted will be required to provide the Promoter with information including their name, a valid GB, IoM or CI home address, phone number and other contact details, proof of ID, notification of any medical conditions, notification of any assistance that may be needed when attending the Olympic Stadium, emergency contact details and consent to LOCOG and selected third parties (including Local Authorities and LOCOG’s Customer Relationship Management Provider, whose servers are based in the United States of America) contacting them regarding their participation in and/or for the purpose of organising the Powerade Olympic Stadium Experience. This may involve background and security checks, including Criminal Records Bureau check.

6. Winners are responsible for providing correct contact details and information for themselves if and when requested. Inaccurate information may result in the prize being forfeited if the Promoter is unable to contact the winner.

Participation:

7. The Olympic Stadium Experience event will take place on Thursday 3rd May at the London 2012 Olympic Stadium in London. Winners will need to arrive in London in the afternoon on Wednesday 2nd May, so should ensure they are available on both days. Hotel accommodation will be provided for winners and their guests on the night of Wednesday 2nd May – this will be a twin room.

8. Winners will be provided with a 100 total contribution towards travel to and from London for themselves and their guest. Winners and guests will need to make their own travel arrangements to and from London.

9. Winners and guests will need to arrive at the designated hotel in East London by 15:00 on Wednesday 2nd May. The Promoter will arrange reasonable meals, snacks and transfers from this point.

10. The Olympic Stadium Experience will end at approximately 13:30 on Thursday 3rd May. After this time, winners and guests will be responsible for making their own way home from the hotel.

11. The Olympic Stadium Experience event will include a briefing and informational talk from a qualified athletics coach, demonstrations by a professional athlete, the opportunity for the winners to run the 100m on the Olympic Stadium track, photos of the event, and gift bags for winners. Please note: Jessica Ennis will not appear in person at any point during the Olympic Stadium Experience.

12. Full details of the event will be communicated directly to winners once chosen.

13. No cash alternative to the prize is available.

14. In the event of unforeseeable circumstances outside of its control, the Promoter reserves the right to offer an alternative prize or reward as close to the Olympic Stadium experience as possible.

General

15. The Promoter's decision is final in all matters pertaining to the promotion, and no correspondence will be entered into.

16. For any further information, or promotional queries, please contact the consumer helpline on 0800 227711.

17. For a list of winners’ names and their counties, please send a stamped self-addressed envelope to Powerade ‘Olympic Stadium Experience’, BD Network, Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6PQ. This will be available for 3 months from the closing date of the promotion.

18. If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these Terms and Conditions, or any underhand or malpractice or activity in conflict with the spirit of the promotion, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion refuse to accept an entry. The Promoter will be the final arbiter in any decisions and these will be final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into. The Promoter may at its absolute discretion disqualify any entrant found to be tampering with the entry process or operation or to be acting in any manner disruptive to the promotion.

19. Limitations of liability: insofar as permitted by law, neither the Promoter nor the promotional parties assume any responsibility or liability for:-

i. Any incorrect or inaccurate entry, or for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions;
ii. Communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regard to any equipment, systems, networks, lines, satellites, servers, computers or providers utilised in any aspect of this promotion;
iii. Inaccessibility or unavailability of the internet or the website or any combination thereof;
iv. Any injury or damage to participants or to any other person’s computer which may be related to or resulting from any attempt to participate in the promotion;

Promoter: Coca-Cola Great Britain, 1 Queen Caroline Street, London, W6 9HQ.
Entries should not be sent to this address.

LONDON 2012: Kelly Sotherton targets Olympic heptathlon comeback

Posted on January 1, 2012 by adminsports

Brave Sotherton is displaying real backbone as she targets dream comeback at Games

For Kelly Sotherton, the end should have come in April 2010. It was then that a doctor told her the prolapsed discs in her spine meant she could never compete in the heptathlon again, It was not the finale the 2004 Olympic bronze medallist had planned.

But, after two years out of her event and a failed attempt to switch to running 400m last season, Sotherton will be training on Sunday in preparation for what she hopes will be a heptathlon comeback at London”s Olympic Games.

I”m no whimp: Sotherton is defying the odds in her bid for heptathlon glory

That she could be planning such a move at the age of 35 is remarkable enough, but after the injuries Sotherton has suffered it is an extraordinary decision.

But a more positive view offered by a doctor last September suggested that her injury had healed, although the damage means she has to keep high-jump training to a minimum and her javelin technique has had to change entirely.

“I think I”m realistic,” says Sotherton. “I might not make the Olympics, my body might give up. And that would be quite hurtful and upsetting but I”m more prepared if that does happen now, because obviously I”ve dealt with disappointments for the past three years. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn”t, it doesn”t.”

Coaching spectacle: Van Commenee (left ) with Toni Minichiello, who mentors Ennis

The truth is that the fall from grace in the heptathlon can happen alarmingly quickly as a result of the unique strains made on the body. In 2008 Sotherton was aiming for Olympic gold but was disrupted by injury and kidney problems and she came fourth in the last heptathlon she completed.

To return, however, will be a struggle. While she has been away – last year”s attempt to make the 4x400m relay team ended in injury and failure – Britain has discovered a new golden girl in Jessica Ennis, the heptathlete Sotherton once called a “tadpole”.

As Sotherton fell away from the public consciousness, Ennis was busy winning world and European titles. “Initially, it was difficult and people forgot that I ever existed,” admitted Sotherton.

“But between Denise Lewis and Jess I was there. I might have not have won but I held the mantle. And at the end of the day, I still look at the medals I”ve got at home from the Olympics and world, European and Commonwealth Championships and think, “That”s what I achieved”.

Pain game: Sotherton collapses after the 800m run in the Heptahlon in Beijing

Third place: Sotherton with her bronze medal World Championships in Osaka

“And there aren”t too many people in the world, let alone in our country, who have got those medals, especially the Olympic one.”

Sotherton will not have it easy if she wants to compete with Ennis at London.

She has been dropped from the UK Athletics list of Lotteryfunded athletes, a decision ultimately taken by Charles van Commenee, now head coach of UKA but formerly Sotherton”s coach.

He also famously reduced Sotherton to tears, telling her she was a wimp just after she had won the Olympic bronze in Athens because he felt she should have clinched silver.

Sotherton has since said that Van Commenee was right – “he just chose the wrong time to say it” – and that he was the coach responsible for lifting her from athletic mediocrity to world class when he took over her coaching in 2003.

And she does not even blame him for cutting her from the Lottery list. “It was inevitable that was going to happen,” she said.

“When I”d spoken to Charles in September and said that I”d seen a doctor and that I was going to go back to heptathlon, I thought he might help me out. But that wasn”t the case. I think if he could, he probably would.”

Sotherton cannot completely hide her feelings over her three lost years and contrasts her treatment with that given to Paula Radcliffe, who, apart from the 2008 Olympics, last competed for Britain at a track-and-field championship in 2005.

Funded: Sotherton can

Funded: Sotherton can”t understand why Paula Radcliffe still receives funding

“I could”ve have had two babies in those three years and probably still be supported,” said Sotherton.

“Paula had two babies. No disrespect, she”s a great athlete but she hasn”t done anything for her country for five years until recently.

“She didn”t do anything at the Olympics [Radcliffe was 23rd in the marathon at Beijing in 2008] so why is she still funded”

So if Sotherton were to achieve her goal of making the top eight at the London Olympics this year despite being cut from the Lottery, what would Van Commenee say

“He”d give me a pat on the back and say, “Good job”. He”d probably try to take some of the credit.” Like a slightly annoying parent, perhaps “He”s more like an ex-husband,” said Sotherton, only half-joking.

“He”d say something witty that isn”t witty to anyone else. He thinks he”s funny, when he clearly isn”t. But that”s his Dutch sense of humour, I guess.”

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Tag Archives: minichiello

Jessica Ennis" coach Toni Minichiello slams UK Athletics for "lack of respect"

Jonathan Edwards blasts Jessica Ennis "fat" comments

LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS: Can Jessica Ennis be a Games wonder woman?

Jessica Ennis romps to victory in hurdles in Gotzis

Jessica Ennis laughs off "fat" comments

Jessica Ennis is not fat, says coach

London 2012 Olympics: WIN chance to set personal best at Olympic Stadium with Powerade

LONDON 2012: Kelly Sotherton targets Olympic heptathlon comeback