The father of Olympic 5,000-metre winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen is accused of abusing the athlete physically and psychologically, and he will go on trial next year.
Last year, Jakob, 24, and his brothers, Filip, 31, and Henrik, 33, who are also Olympic athletes, publicly accused their father, who served as their coach until 2022, of being aggressive. These athletes, who are among the seven children of Gjert Ingebrigtsen, accused their father of physical violence and abusive behaviour in a Norwegian newspaper.
Through his attorney, Gjert, who resigned as his children’s coach in 2022 after Jakob won the gold medal in the 1500m at the Tokyo Olympics, claimed that the accusation was baseless and that he never used violence against his children.
Gjert’s lawyers, John Christian Elden and Heidi Reisvang, stated: “Gjert Ingebrigtsen maintains what he has said all along, that he does not admit criminal guilt for the offences he has been charged with and that he has never subjected any of his children to either physical or mental abuse.”
In April, Gjert was charged with one crime; however, five charges were dropped due to the quality of the evidence, and one case was dropped due to time restrictions. However, Mette Yvonne Larsen, the representative of the Ingebrigtsen children, would like to appeal at least one of the dropped cases.
Public prosecutor Birgitte Budal Lovlund told BBC Sport: “I can confirm that Gjert Ingebrigtsen on November 29th was indicted by our office for physical and mental abuse of his son Jakob Ingebrigtsen…. The case has been forwarded to the district court of Sor-Rogaland for planning. The prosecution has requested that at least 30 days be set aside for the legal proceedings that are expected to take place during 2025, preferably the first half of the year. This, however, is up to the court to decide.”
Source: BBC