Competing in three Winter Olympics, Minichiello earned her best finish of ninth in the two-woman event at Turin in 2006.

Before taking up bobsleigh, Minichiello had competed (under her maiden name of Gautier) for Sheffield Athletic Club in shot put, javelin and heptathlon.

[1] While competing in athletics, she met and married Toni Minichiello, coach of World and Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis.

Subsequently, in April 2011 Minichiello announced her retirement as a driver and took up a position as head development coach at the sport's governing body, the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing).

[5] In this role she coached Esmé Kamphuis and Judith Vis to fourth place in the two-woman event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.