AFP and AP, OSLO and SANDNES, Norway
The father and former coach of double Olympic champion runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen on Monday denied physically abusing his son and daughter as his trial on the charges began in Norway.
Ingebrigtsen, 24, spent the weekend underlining his position as one of the world’s finest athletes by winning gold medals in the 3,000m and 1,500m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in China.
His father, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who used to coach his son, could face up to six years in jail over an alleged 14-year campaign of domestic abuse.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway holds up his nation’s flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s 3,000m final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, on Saturday.
Photo: AP
After the indictment was read out, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, 59, told the court he rejected the accusations against him, on the first day of his trial in the Sandnes District Court in southwestern Norway where the family lives.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen and two of his brothers, Henrik and Filip Ingebrigtsen, who are also athletes, shocked Norway in October 2023 when they accused their father of using “physical violence” and “threats” as part of their upbringing.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen, whom the brothers described as “a very aggressive and authoritarian father,” coached Jakob Ingebrigtsen until after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where Jakob won the 1,500m gold.
The defense played the first episode of the TV documentary series Team Ingebrigtsen in court, saying that if there was evidence of abuse the filmmakers would have uncovered it.
“This claim of domestic abuse is unique because there were productions being made with the family in training camps, during holidays and in everyday life. If there had been systematic abuse it would have been discovered,” Gjert Ingebrigtsen’s defense attorney, Heidi Reisvang, said.
The court should differentiate between the role of coach and father, Reisvang said.
“It is clear that someone training to be a world champion has a different upbringing to most people and the rules will be strict when related to eating, sleeping and training,” she said.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen became a prominent media figure in Norway in 2016 following his involvement in the Team Ingebrigtsen series, in which he was seen coaching his sons.
The series ran until 2021. By 2022 the trio had parted ways with their coach-father and the following year cosigned a column in the national newspaper, Verdens Gang, accusing their father of physical violence and intimidation.
The police opened an investigation, with court proceedings eventually brought relating to Gjert Ingebrigtsen’s treatment of Jakob Ingebrigtsen and his younger sister, Ingrid Ingebrigtsen.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen missed the first day of the trial, but was yesterday due to give evidence after returning from Nanjing.
The trial is expected to last until May 16.
