Here is all you need to know about Jakob Ingebrigtsen as the Olympic champion alongside his brother accuse their father Gjert of abuse
The Ingebrigtsen brothers are well-known middle-distance runners who have had remarkable career success. The brothers are now in the limelight, this time, not for their performance but for something off the track.
Who is Gjert Ingebrigtsen father and ex-coach of Jakob Ingebrigtsen as he’s accused of abuse by his sons
Jacob, the Olympic champion along with his brother have accused their father of being physically violent and abusive behaviour. Their father is their ex-coach named Gjert Ingebrigtsen who is, according to his sons abusing them physically and verbally in a letter that appeared in the VG newspaper in Norway.
However, Gjert has denied the allegations, as per a report by ESPN. Gjert had spent most of professional life coaching 23-year-old Jakob, 30-year-old Filip, and 32-year-old Henrik throughout their childhood. He is however now coaching another runner, Narve Gilja Nordas.
The sons wrote via an article published by Norwegian daily VG:
We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father, who used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing.
Further was said:
We still feel a sense of discomfort and fear that we have felt since childhood.
They told that they would sort of come to terms with that. They have grown past it as adults, having learned to live with it. However, when the same behaviour returned two years back, the brothers decided to go away from their father.
From that moment on, we decided to break with our father. It then became impossible for us to continue working with him as a coach.”
Born on September 19, 2000, Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a middle- and long-distance runner from Norway. Ingebrigtsen now holds the world records for the two-mile course’s world record time as well as the indoor 1500 and 2000-meter marks.
At sixteen years old, Ingebrigtsen became the youngest athlete in history to run a mile in under four minutes, shattering the European Under-20 record in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
Back-to-back trophies for Jakob! 🏆
Jakob Ingebrigtsen 🇳🇴 is the men’s European Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row! 💫#GoldenTracks pic.twitter.com/k3YvhYBKEY
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) October 21, 2023
Talking about his brothers, in the 1500m in 2012 and 2016, his brothers Philip and Henrik won the European championship, the two were coached by their father until 2022.