Ennis-Hill’s coach urges Coe to act on medal delay

BENGALURU: International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe must take action over the delay in presenting Jessica Ennis-Hill with her 2011 World Championships gold medal, her former coach Toni Minichiello has said.

Briton Ennis-Hill, 30, was upgraded to a gold medal for the heptathlon event in 2011 after Russian winner Tatyana Chernova was stripped of her title in November for a doping violation.

Coe had said that reallocated medals would be presented at the 2017 World Championships in London but the Times newspaper said legal process was unlikely to be completed by August. “Seb is on record saying athletes should not be getting their medals sent recorded delivery, so for them to miss an opportunity like this is very unfortunate... “Minichiello was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

“You talk tough, but where is the delivery on that toughness. You can say ‘we’re changing’, but things like this very quickly disintegrate any goodwill you have created.

“They should deal with the basics, and how you deal with infringements. It’s incredibly sad and frustrating. It’s six years now... The process needs to be much quicker. The people suffering from this are clean athletes.” Retired Olympic champion Ennis-Hill also won the world title in 2009 and 2015.