On Monday, Norwegian police introduced that Gjert Ingebrigtsen, father and former coach of 1,500m Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, faces fees of home violence towards a member of the family. Gjert might withstand six years in jail if discovered responsible.
In October 2023, Jakob, 23, and his older brothers Henrik, 33, and Filip, 31, who’re additionally Olympic-level athletes, advised the Norwegian newspaper VG that their father, who had coached them till 2022, had been bodily violent.
The 58-year-old denied the allegations, however Norwegian police, who had been investigating the case, stated on Monday that Gjert had been charged with one depend of bodily abuse. In response to a report in VG, the alleged abuse occurred between 2018 and early 2022 and included threats, coercion and hitting one in every of his seven youngsters within the face with a moist towel.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen’s lawyer, John Christian Elden, advised VG that his consumer disagrees with the presentation of the occasions and doesn’t admit any prison wrongdoing.
The police didn’t disclose the identify of the kid to the general public. If discovered responsible, Ingebrigtsen might be going through as much as six years in jail. No date for a trial has been set.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen was named the Norwegian sports activities coach of the 12 months in 2018 after Jakob, Henrik, and Filip all gained medals on the European Championships that 12 months. The household had additionally been the topic of a TV documentary sequence, “Group Ingebregtsen,” aired by public broadcaster NRK for the 5 years main as much as the Tokyo Olympics.
Jakob is likely one of the greatest worldwide stars in observe and subject, and was coached by his father since he started operating. He broke ties together with his father in 2022, and has been coached by his brother Henrik since then.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen lately began teaching one other Norwegian runner, Narve Gilje Nordås, who gained bronze within the males’s 1,500m behind Ingebrigtsen in Budapest. Gjert Ingebrigtsen was advised by the Norwegian sports activities federation that he wouldn’t be allowed to be a part of the Norwegian teaching employees on the 2024 Paris Olympics. He was additionally denied accreditation for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, the place Jakob gained gold within the 5,000m and silver within the males’s 1,500m.
