A year ago, the Norwegian athletics family Ingebrigtsen was in the news after sensational statements by father Gjert Ingebrigtsen (58). He is said to have mentally terrorized and abused his sons Henrik (33), Filip (31) and Jakob (23) for years. Now father Ingebrigtsen is officially charged.
LOOK. Gjert Ingebrigtsen was so strict with his sons
Gjert Ingebrigtsen, father and former trainer of Norwegian athletes Jakob, Henrik and Filip Ingebrigtsen, has been charged with domestic violence. The Norwegian police announced this on Monday.
The 58-year-old Ingebrigtsen led three of his seven children to athletics success. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (23) is Olympic champion, two-time European champion and two-time vice-world champion in the 1,500 meters and two-time world and European champion in the 5,000 meters. Filip Ingebrigtsen (31) became European champion at 1,500 meters in 2016 and vice-world champion at the same distance a year later. Henrik Ingebrigtsen (33) won European gold in the 1,500 meters in 2012. The brothers broke with their father in 2022 and further explanations followed a year later.
“We were raised by a father who used physical violence and threats,” they told the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Corridor. “We still feel the uneasiness and fear that has been in us since childhood. We got used to it, but two years ago the physical punishment and aggression returned, and that was the final straw. The situation had become unbearable. Then we decided to break with our father, and therefore also with our coach.”
The police opened an investigation into possible domestic violence and that has now been completed. Ingebrigtsen, who has always denied the allegations, is said to have abused at least one of his seven children – six sons and one daughter. According to a source close to the file, it would not be one of the three athletes, but one of the younger children (Ingrid and William). She or he was allegedly abused, insulted, threatened and hit in the face with a hand or a towel in the period 2018-2022. Inspector Therese Braut Vage, who is leading the investigation, did not want to confirm that information. Investigations into the abuse of the other six children were closed without further action, due to a lack of evidence, or in one case because the statute of limitations had expired.
“As far as the cold cases are concerned, it is clear that there is no evidence that Ingebrigtsen committed an offense,” Gjert Ingebrigtsen’s lawyer John Christian Elden responded. “For the rest, Ingebrigtsen disputes the description of the facts on which the charges are based. He therefore does not acknowledge his guilt.”
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