Gjert Ingebrigtsen, the athletics coach and father of Jakob Ingebrigtsen, says that he “loves” his children and was just being “overly protective”, denying allegations of absuing them.
The 59-year-old is currently on trial after facing allegations of physically and mentally abusing his 24-year-old son, top athlete and Olympic champion Jakob, as well as one of his other children.
Jakob had testified in court, saying that his father “manipulated” and “controlled” him as he grew up. He also described the alleged incidents. However, Gjert said in his defence that he was just trying to protect all of his seven children, two of whom became successful athletes.
Gjert said, as quoted by the Norwegian state broadcaster NRK: “I became a father very early, with an enormous need to protect. I became what one might call overly protective. Highlighting relevant incidents in relation to the charges may make it seem like I am being portrayed negatively towards my children. But I love my children immensely.”
Gjert told the court that the goals of his children in sports had been “absolutely extreme” when they started competing. He added: “I never heard ‘could you please’, but rather entirely different demands and expectations. The demands from the children were about district level, national level, European level, and world level. Later, ‘Dad’ became ‘Gjert’, and ‘Gjert’ became ‘the accused’.”
Accusations against Gjert
In the court, it was alleged that Gjert hurt Jakob several times after having a poor report about his behaviour at school when the athlete was just eight years old. Jakob also said that his father slapped him in the face for being late to a race in 2008. In another incident after he fell off a scooter, his father allegedly kicked him in the stomach.
In October 2023, Jakob and his brothers Flip (31) and Henrik (34), who are also Olympic athletes, publicly accused their father of being violent. The brothers stated that they felt “discomfort and fear” towards their former coach and father, for he is “very aggressive and controlling”.