Norwegian police launch investigation into Ingebrigtsen athletics family conflict

Norwegian police are launching an investigation into possible abuse by athletics coach Gjert Ingebrigtsen. The Norwegian coach is said to have harassed and threatened his own sons, Jakob, Henrik and Filip Ingebrigtsen, when they were young. The three top athletes said this in an opinion piece published in Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang last week.

“We grew up with a very aggressive and controlling father. He used physical violence and threatened us. “We still feel the discomfort and fear that we have carried with us since childhood,” the three sons write. Norwegian police will investigate whether crimes were actually committed.

57-year-old father and coach Gjert denies the allegations. “I have never used violence and it deeply saddens me that we are now making false accusations against each other in the media. “As a father and husband, I am far from perfect, but I am not violent.”

The brothers decided that they wanted to end their coaching collaboration with their father in the summer of 2022. They did not provide further information about the reason for this at the time, but various media outlets wrote about Gjert’s modus operandi.

corporal punishment

“Out of respect for our family and everyone involved, we did not want to go into details, but we understand that we can no longer hide the reasons for the pause,” the brothers wrote in the paper last week. They had been subjected to corporal punishment from their father two years ago.

Of the three sons, Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the most successful and best known. He is the Olympic champion at 1,500 meters and won the gold medal in the 5,000 meters and the silver medal in the 1,500 meters at the World Championships held in Budapest in the summer of 2023.

Source: NOS