The father and former coach of Jakob Ingebrigtsen will stand trial next year on charges of alleged physical abuse against the Norwegian two-time Olympic gold medallist, lawyers for Gjert Ingebrigtsen said on Friday.
Norwegian police earlier this year pressed charges against the elder Ingebrigtsen, and his lawyer said in a statement at that time that they involved only one of his children while other charges were dismissed.
The charges will now extend to incidents involving Jakob, 24, who took the gold medal in the 5,000 metres in Paris this summer, his lawyer Mette Yvonne Larsen told Reuters.
“He is now charged with having abused two of his seven kids … We had expected that this would happen,” she said.
Gjert’s lawyers, John Christian Elden and Heidi Reisvang, said in a statement: “Gjert Ingebrigtsen maintains what he has said all along, that he does not admit criminal guilt for the offences he has been charged with and that he has never subjected any of his children to either physical or mental abuse.”
Jakob accused his father of several incidents of abuse, according to Norwegian media, including slapping him twice in 2008 and kicking him in the stomach after he fell off a scooter in 2009.
There were also numerous incidents of verbal abuse and threats in 2015 and 2016, according to Jakob, who said in one incident that his father assaulted him for between 15 and 30 minutes.
The Times reported that, according to the indictment, Gjert allegedly threatened to beat Jakob “to death.”
Jakob and his brothers, Filip and Henrik, accused their father of physical violence and abusive behaviour in a Norwegian newspaper column last year. The elder Ingebrigtsen has repeatedly denied the claims.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen announced in 2022 that he was stepping down as coach not long after Jakob won gold in the 1,500 metres in Tokyo, prompting widespread speculation over their rift.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen finished third in his much-anticipated showdown with Brit Josh Kerr in the 1,500 metres in Paris this summer as American Cole Hocker took an unexpected gold medal. However, Ingebrigtsen did win gold in the 5,000 metres.
