Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s father charged with physical abuse of one of his seven children
The father of the Olympic and world champion runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been charged with domestic violence following allegations that he hit one of his children in the face with a towel.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who coached Jakob as well as his brothers Henrik and Filip to 1500m European Championship gold, was publicly accused last October of being violent and has been facing a police investigation into the allegations.
“We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father, who used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing,” the three brothers wrote in an op-ed for newspaper VG.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who has seven children, denies any criminal offence but has been charged over allegations that are reportedly in relation to one of the three brothers’ younger siblings.
According to the Agence France-Presse, Gjert Ingebrigtsen “allegedly manhandled, insulted, threatened and hit the child in the face with his hand or with a towel” between 2018 to 2022.
The Norwegian newspaper VG says that, according to the two-page indictment, a central incident occurred in January 2022 when Gjert Ingebrigtsen allegedly struck one of his children in “the face with a wet towel so that a red mark appeared on the cheek”.
Police said that they had closed investigations into events concerning the six other children due to a lack of evidence or, in one case, because the statute of limitations had expired.
“As far as the dismissed cases, we agree that there is no evidence to prove that Ingebrigtsen committed any wrongdoing,” Ingebrigtsen’s lawyer John Christian Elden told AFP.
“For the rest, Ingebrigtsen disputes the description of the facts on which the indictment is based – and he therefore does not admit his guilt.”
Police inspector Terese Braut Vage, of Norway’s southwest police district, told the Norwegian VG newspaper that they had carried out preliminary investigations and had now opened a criminal case.
“A case has been opened under section 282 of the Criminal Code – abuse in close relationships,” said Braut Vage. “This means that we are now in an investigation phase, where the purpose of the investigation is to uncover whether there are criminal circumstances.
“I would like to emphasise that investigations into cases concerning abuse in close relationships are cases which, by their nature, require a thorough investigation over some time.”
Mette Yvonne Larsen, who represents five of the Ingebrigtsen children, has said at least one of those suspensions will be appealed against.
“The indictment that has been brought is serious and concerns one of my clients, who is in a vulnerable situation,” she told VG. “The person today feels that they are believed.”
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the double world champion over 5000m and also the reigning Olympic 1500m champion ahead of defending his title this summer against Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, who beat him to the world 1500m title in Budapest last year.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen stopped coaching his sons in 2022 but now trains their Norway team-mate Narve Gilje Nordas, who himself won World Championship bronze last summer just behind Jakob. The Norwegian Olympic Committee have said that Gjert Ingebrigtsen will not be granted accreditation for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
