On Monday, Norwegian police introduced that Gjert Ingebrigtsen, father and former coach of 1,500m Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, faces costs of home violence in opposition to a member of the family. Gjert may 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, mentioned on Monday that Gjert had been charged with one rely of bodily abuse. In keeping with a report in VG, the alleged abuse came about between 2018 and early 2022 and included threats, coercion and hitting one in all his seven youngsters within the face with a moist towel.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen’s lawyer, John Christian Elden, advised VG that his shopper 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 dealing with 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 yr in 2018 after Jakob, Henrik, and Filip all received medals on the European Championships that yr. The household had additionally been the topic of a TV documentary sequence, “Staff 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 monitor and area, 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 received 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 workers on the 2024 Paris Olympics. He was additionally denied accreditation for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, the place Jakob received gold within the 5,000m and silver within the males’s 1,500m.
