Few sports stories have been more beguiling or eccentric than that of the Ingebrigtsens, the Norwegian running family who from earliest childhood were trained as professional athletes by their father, Gjert. When his sons, Jakob, Filip and Henrik, stormed to Olympic, world and European titles, the reality television cameras were there to capture many of the steps, squabbles and medals along the way. Little wonder that Team Ingebrigtsen became the most popular TV show in Norwegian history.
But on Tuesday a courtroom in Sandnes, in the south-west of the country, heard that the reality inside the family home was far bleaker, with harrowing stories of violence, threats and manipulative behaviour from Gjert towards Jakob, the double Olympic champion, and his younger sister, Ingrid.
Over four hours of testimony, Jakob detailed how he had been punched and kicked by his father when he was at primary school and been threatened with being beaten to death, and outlined multiple other incidents which he said had left him emotionally damaged.
Jakob told the court that he and his brothers had finally decided that enough was enough in 2022, when Ingrid was hit in the face with a wet towel, leaving a red mark, because she did not want to go for a run. It was at that point they split from their father and coach and told their story to the Norwegian newspaper VG.
Gjert, who faces up to six years in prison if convicted, has denied any allegation of violence.
Such was the interest in the trial that the live blog of Ingebrigtsen’s testimony was followed by nearly 200,000 people on VG. The Norwegian superstar, who holds four world records and the Tokyo 2020 1500m and Paris 2024 5,000m gold medals, was calm as he outlined the allegations against his father – whom he referred to throughout as “the defendant”. They included being punched when he was as young as seven or eight after Jakob’s school phoned the family home asking to speak to his mother, who was at work. Jakob told the court that his father had asked him why they had called, and when he told him he didn’t know he was punched in the head “many times”.
“I’m just standing in the kitchen and looking down at the ground,” he added. “The defendant is standing over me and screaming at me that I’m a liar and I’m lying for what feels like a very long time, before he starts hitting me in the head … I try to protect myself from violence, before he takes my hands and puts them down on my side, before he starts to continue hitting me in the head.
“I don’t know exactly how many times I was hit, but when I stand there it feels like a very long time. Somewhere between 10 and 20 times, where I try to just protect myself.”
In another incident, which allegedly occurred when Jakob was eight or nine, he said that he had been playing in the street on a scooter when his father jumped on him and kicked him in the stomach. “I remember trying to get up, and lying on all fours, before I get a kick in the stomach which I remember was a strange experience,” he said.
In middle school, Jakob said his father had threatened to “shame him and beat him to death, or something similar” when he was sitting with several of his family members in a car together.
Jakob told the court he and his brothers had finally decided to go public with their father’s behaviour and to sack him as their coach after he saw a photograph of his sister with the mark. Jakob said the photo, which was shown to the court on Monday, was just one of “many episodes she has been in”.
“She is a young, small girl who is in a physical confrontation with a grown, large man,” he said. “I have been in that myself, but I am not her and can only imagine how traumatic that and those experiences have been for her. It was about her wanting to stop running and training. She wasn’t allowed to do that.”
Jakob said his father had tried to stop the relationship with his now-wife, Elisabeth, after they had met when they were 16 and had reacted angrily when they wanted to move in together when they were 18. “In that context, we were called terrorists by the defendant”.
The court also shown a 24-minute video of Gjert aggressively arguing with Jakob when he had asked to use the PlayStation after training when he was 19.
His father’s alleged behaviour had affected Jakob’s ability to show and feel emotions, he told the court. “If I was happy or did something nice, it could be used against me if I was a little tired at training the next day,” he said. “I was very conscious about showing emotions. I ended up not doing it. I have a hard time letting people in and I have a hard time trusting people.”
Asked why he had stopped calling his father “Dad” when he was about 11, Jakob said: “I no longer saw this person as a father. I thought that the things he says, the things he does and has done, are not worthy of a father.
“You have become a father yourself, what would you expect from the father you no longer call Dad? What is missing?” asked Larsen.
“Empathy, caring,” Jakob responded.
The trial, which is due to last until 16 May, continues.
