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New York Times
16-04-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
‘Weather doping' in Throw Town: Discus records tumble in Oklahoma but not without controversy
Discus records were smashed at the Continental Tour Bronze in Oklahoma but the event and the achievements were not without controversy. A Swedish commentator felt 'weather doping' was at play as the event at Millican Field in Ramona was hit with high wind speeds throughout. Discus, unlike track and jumping events, has no restrictions on the impact of wind speed or direction with regard to upholding records. Advertisement Mykolas Alekna, the Paris 2024 silver medallist from Lithuania, broke his own world record twice at the event on Sunday, recording 74.89m on his opening throw before bettering that with an effort of 75.56m. In doing so, the 22-year-old became the first man to pass the 75m mark. His previous record, set at the Oklahoma venue almost exactly a year ago, stood at 74.35m. THE FIRST 75M THROW BY A MAN EVER! MYKOLAS ALEKNA, 75.56M!!!! — Paul Hof-Mahoney (@phofmahoney) April 13, 2025 Australia's Matthew Denny also posted a throw of 74.78m. He was one of five men to clear 70m, a feat not achieved in the same discus event before Sunday. 'I don't know whether to laugh or cry,' Swedish commentator Mats Wennerholm said, per Reuters. 'It just becomes ridiculous in a competition boosted by gale-force winds. Weather doping should be added to the banned list.' Former Norwegian 800m champion Vebjorn Rodal, meanwhile, said Millican Field is 'sought out for throwing far.' Millican Field has several throwing circles facing different directions, allowing athletes to better adjust depending on the conditions. The venue has been dubbed 'throw town' because of its perceived advantage to competitors. Thor Gjesdal of the Norwegian Athletics Federation said it would be 'difficult to change the rules now,' adding it is 'difficult to quantify the benefit' of wind assistance in throwing events like it is with track. The Athletic has contacted World Athletics for comment. Wind was also in play on the other side of the world on Sunday, as teenage sprinter Gout Gout had his record-breaking 200m time of 19.84 seconds ruled out after it was adjudged he was aided by a tailwind of +2.2 metres per second in Perth, Australia. That came two days after Gout won the Under-20 100m Australian title in 9.99s, also achieved with a tailwind above the permitted limit. (Photo of Alekna competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics:)
Reuters
15-04-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Day of monster discus throws condemned as 'weather doping'
April 15 (Reuters) - Performance-enhancing drugs have long been the scourge of athletics field events but now some observers are claiming "weather doping" was behind a slew of discus records at a meeting in the United States on Sunday. Lithuania's Mykolas Alekna, the 2024 Olympic silver medallist, smashed his own world record when he became the first man to pass the 75-metre mark with a throw of 75.56m at the Continental Tour Bronze event at Ramona, Oklahoma. The 22-year-old bettered his own previous mark of 74.35m, set at the same venue last year, having also passed it with his opening throw of 74.89 on Sunday. Australia's Matthew Denny also impressed, surpassing Alekna's record from last year with a throw of 74.78m as five men cleared 70 metres at the same event for the first time. Valarie Allman also smashed the U.S. women's record with a throw of 73.52m - the longest by a woman for 36 years. However, various Scandinavian commentators and coaches said the extraordinary performances were enabled by the venue's engineered design, which appears to take advantage of high wind speeds. Unlike various track events and the horizontal jumps, the discus throw has no restrictions on wind assistance when it comes to validating records and Millican Field in Oklahoma features several throwing circles positioned to help athletes take advantage of the wind direction. "Mykolas Alekna smashes his own world record with a 75.56 throw in a wind-battered Ramona and I don't know whether to laugh or cry," Swedish commentator Mats Wennerholm said. "It just becomes ridiculous in a competition boosted by gale-force winds. Weather doping should be added to the banned list." "It's a different sport," Staffan Jonsson, the coach of Sweden's Olympic and world champion thrower Daniel Stahl said. Norway's former Olympic 800m champion-turned pundit Vebjorn Rodal said: "It's blowing like crazy here. There's no doubt this arena is sought out for throwing far." Thor Gjesdal of the Norwegian Athletics Federation said the weekend results would be ratified and more wind-assisted throws can be expected, despite the criticism. "It is more difficult to quantify the benefit of wind in the same way as in running," he said. "It will be difficult to change the rules now."
New York Times
02-04-2025
- New York Times
Jakob Ingebrigtsen's father says he was ‘not kind' as a coach and claims court documents were leaked to media
Gjert Ingebrigtsen, the father and former coach of Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, says he 'was not necessarily a kind man' as a coach and claimed that court documents were leaked to the media ahead of his appearance in court. On Wednesday, the 59-year-old finished three days of testimony for charges of abuse in close relationships against two of his seven children. Gjert was indicted on abuse charges against middle child Jakob and his younger sister, Ingrid, and was alleged to have hit the latter with a towel in early 2022. Advertisement He denied all allegations and pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial, which is taking place in Sandnes, Norway, the birthplace of the seven Ingebrigtsen siblings. If found guilty, the maximum prison sentence is six years, a restraining order may be implemented, and the Norwegian Athletics Federation can bring a separate punishment. The Athletic reported from the trial earlier this week that Gjert had no recollection of the events surrounding the instances of abuse that Jakob alleged. On three instances regarding Ingrid, he recalled the incident but disagreed with the portrayal of events. This included him pushing his daughter after she slammed a door during a disagreement — Gjert says 'she had to take a step back to regain balance', while Ingrid says she was pushed to the floor. Gjert denied Ingrid's assertion last week that he shouted at her and 'threw his hand in my face' after she had forgotten her heart-rate monitor. He insisted it was 'a discussion or an argument about a clear and defined responsibility (for bringing the monitor). What that (his) reaction consisted of is hard to say, but it was definitely not a hit'. Of the towel incident in 2022, he said he only hit Ingrid's finger, not her face as she alleges. The prosecution pointed out that in the police interrogation, Gjert's story changed between the number of times the towel hit her (between once and twice) and if he hit her at all (from not hitting her to the finger). That incident caused Jakob, as well as elder brothers Henrik and Filip — professional middle-distance runners themselves, with all three once the European 1,500m champion — to split with Gjert as their coach. Gjert elaborated that the popularity of the family — through sporting success and the Team Ingebrigtsen behind-the-scenes docuseries, which ran from 2016 to 2021 and was broadcast on national Norwegian television — meant he was not, in his opinion, given the necessary presumption of innocence. Advertisement He claimed to be able to document 'deliberate leaks' of court documents and interrogations from the police and the prosecution to the media. Gjert also said it was 'never an option' for the Norwegian Athletics Federation to 'remain neutral' given the importance of Jakob's success. Norway are relatively unique in being a nation with more winter than summer Olympic medals. In the delayed 2021 Tokyo Games, Jakob was the first Norwegian Olympic champion over 1,500m and also the first from his country to win 5,000m gold, which he achieved last summer in Paris. Gjert says the pressure put on Jakob to win in 2021 diffused onto him. 'He (Jakob) decided that if he doesn't win the Olympics, his life is pretty much a failure. He makes sure to remind me of that all the time,' Gjert testified. Gjert spoke of a breakdown after he won 1,500m gold, after which Jakob had a 'changed attitude' and they began to drift apart, with 'conflict' starting between the teenager and older brother Henrik. Gjert also testified about an issue at the 2023 Bislett Games, the most prestigious track and field event that is held in Norway, when an athlete he was still coaching, middle-distance runner Narve Gilje Nordas, had ran a breakthrough race five days prior and wanted to be in the stacked 1,500m event in Oslo. Gjert felt that efforts to exclude Nordas from the race were because of the fractured relationship between him and Jakob, whom he had split from for more than a year at that point. 'They had to let him in because he was running too fast to ignore,' Gjert recalled, adding that Jakob was 'very obviously against Narve running the 1,500m… a backroom deal was made, a large sum of money to race a different distance, but he declined'. Jakob, who won that race in a 3:27.95 European record (Nordas finished ninth but ran a PB), denied those claims in court. Three months later, when Jakob was marrying childhood sweetheart Elisabeth, Gjert says he was not invited because of the events surrounding the Bislett Games — which Jakob also denied, saying Gjert was never invited, whereas his father claims he had an invite on the condition he cut ties with Nordas. Advertisement Gjert also claimed that Jakob threatened Tone, his mother and Gjert's wife, that she had to divorce him or she would be estranged from her children and grandchildren. In October 2023, Jakob, Filip and Henrik released their statement as an op-ed in Norwegian newspaper VG, where they alleged abuse from Gjert. He called it a 'bomb' and that 'we had never heard anything remotely resembling what was written in that article'. He chose not to speak publicly on the charges at any point — Gjert's denial of the October 2023 allegations came in a statement from his lawyers — because he 'did not want to contribute to turning this into a bigger circus than necessary'. Gjert accepts that he became too invested as their coach and was not enough of a father, particularly as 'the coach was not necessarily a kind man. The way I communicated in my job as a coach was not always appropriate, (it) eventually became extreme (and) spread into our lives, which should have been a different arena'. At the start of the three days of testimony, in his 'free statement', he cited his childhood experiences — being raised in the north of the country where communication is more 'direct', being abused himself aged 10, and without male role models when his dad died aged four — as explanations for his shortcomings. In 2020, a point when he says he was suicidal, Gjert said that he tipped too far and 'built my world around the role of a coach rather than the role of a father. That was foolish, but I couldn't stop myself, and no one else stopped it either'. He told the court that it was then that Henrik moved back in and conflict between the two became more frequent: 'I should have stopped it. Instead, I quit my job, sold off things, and thought I would remain in this role for the rest of my life, or at least for a long time.' Gjert estimated that he and wife Tone spent 15 million Norwegian kroner (£1.1m; $1.4m) on their children's athletics careers and that the financial fallout from the past two years has been significant. Tone sold her hair salons in 2022, one year after they 'took on enormous financial commitments by investing in our existing home and purchasing a vacation house in Spain,' Gjert told the court. He says they have had to sell off assets, with their income 'reduced by 80 per cent. It is difficult to say how long this will remain viable'. Advertisement On Thursday, eldest child Kristoffer will testify. He also brought abuse charges against Gjert, which were investigated by police but dropped as they were time-barred. Kristoffer is the first of more than 30 witnesses — including Tone, Nordas, and other siblings — who will take the stand between now and mid-May when the trial is set to conclude.
New York Times
27-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Ingrid Ingebrigtsen, Jakob's sister, tells court their father Gjert slapped her, whipped her with a towel
Ingrid Ingebrigtsen, sister of Olympic gold medallist Jakob, told a court on Thursday that their father allegedly slapped her and whipped her with a towel. Before Ingrid, 19, testified at the court in her hometown of Sandnes, Norway, her legal counsel, Mette Yvonne Larsen, made a plea: 'She is very nervous. She had a breakdown yesterday and is very afraid. First and foremost, she was dreading seeing Gjert.' Advertisement Ingrid was testifying against her father, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, on charges of abuse in close relationships against her and older brother Jakob. The prosecution requested a closed court for Ingrid's testimony. This was also requested by the defence for Gjert, however that claim was rejected. Gjert denies all allegations and the portrayal of events, and pled not guilty. He denies ever having been violent. The charges carry a maximum sentence of six years, while a restraining order could also be issued and separate punishment from the Norwegian Athletics Federation may be brought if he is found guilty. Gjert coached the trio of Ingrid's older brothers who are professional middle-distance runners: Henrik, Filip and Jakob, all of whom have won European 1,500m titles, and Jakob won Olympic gold over that distance at the delayed 2021 Tokyo Games. They split with Gjert as coach in early 2022 after he was alleged to have hit Ingrid with a towel. Prosecutor Ellen Gimre led the questioning of Ingrid, the second-youngest and the only girl of seven siblings. Gimre asked her to explain the background of January 5, 2022, the day Gjert allegedly hit Ingrid with a towel. Ingrid told the court she had planned to meet friends and 'found it scary to even ask for permission'. After she went downstairs to tell Gjert she was leaving, 'I was simply told that it wasn't an option. I asked why, but there was no reason. 'By then, I had felt trapped in my own home for so long, and so much time had passed, so I didn't accept the rejection. I pushed a little, and said, 'Why am I not allowed?' 'Then he shoved his finger in my face, yelling. This had happened before, but since I had spent so many months being pushed down and ignored, I felt completely bullied. I pushed his finger away. I still don't understand how I dared to do that. Advertisement 'He had a small, wet towel in his hand. He whipped the towel toward me. The first time he missed, then he did it again, aiming for my face, and he hit right on my cheek.' Ingrid said she froze, before Gjert 'quickly realized that he had done something wrong. He looked very stressed,' starting to pace up and down the hallway. It was then that she ran to the house of older brother Henrik and his wife Liva, who lived close by. 'I ran there, sobbing, and told Liva in shock what had happened. Then he (Gjert) called me, telling me to come home immediately, and if I didn't, he would come and get me. Liva locked the door, took a picture of my face and called Henrik, who was away at a training camp with Filip and Jakob'. Gjert, Ingrid said, came to the house and tried to open the door. Henrik had called the eldest brother, Kristoffer, who lives one street over, and he arrived with a baseball bat to confront their father. Liva also called Tone, the mother of the seven Ingebrigtsen siblings. 'She came right away (from work),' Ingrid recalled. 'She said, 'That's enough. Gjert is sick and needs help.' Mom went to Gjert, saying she had to look after him, that she was afraid of what he might do.' Ingrid said Gjert texted her the following day, 'but he only apologized for raising his voice — not for what actually happened'. From then, Ingrid stayed with Kristoffer and moved into voluntary foster care in March 2022, with her old homeroom teacher from middle school. She wanted to report Gjert to the police immediately, 'but none of my other siblings wanted to,' she explained. 'They shut it down pretty quickly at the start. They found it difficult'. It is why 20 months elapsed from the alleged abuse and the October 2023 statement from Jakob, Henrik and Filip — published in Norwegian newspaper VG — where they first spoke publicly of Gjert's controlling nature and alleged abuse. Advertisement Ingrid said foster care was 'very difficult and not a situation I willingly wanted to be in. I have done everything I can to avoid ending up back home'. She felt 'in a battle against child welfare services. I don't feel like I was treated well or believed by them.' They told her they could not help bring charges against Gjert as they perceived evidence to be insufficient. Gjert and Tone kept her passport and 'used it against me, deliberately so I couldn't travel with my foster family,' she said. While she was temporarily living with Kristoffer, his wife Christina suggested that Ingrid write down the key points of Gjert allegedly abusing her. Ingrid described Kristoffer as 'a bit angry and upset that he hadn't known what was going on,' with her filling an A4 page. More than once she was pushed into an ice-cold shower and held under the water to 'wake her up'. Gjert's 'crazy eyes,' is another thing Ingrid wrote down. 'That was when he got really angry and exploded — it seemed like everything went black for him,' she said. Ingrid used 'crazy eyes' to describe an incident, when still living at home, where she was sick and not training but was still made to get up early to eat breakfast with her siblings. 'I asked if I could sleep longer. The answer was that it wasn't an option. I kept asking because I didn't understand why.' She slammed the sliding door to her parents' bedroom harder than she anticipated, and says Gjert retaliated. He 'placed both hands on my chest and pushed me down,' Ingrid told court. She ran off in fear. 'My heart sank immediately, and I quickly ran up the stairs to my room. I only made it halfway when he opened the sliding door and calmly said, 'Now you come here.' 'I realized I had done something wrong. So I went over, and then he stood with his finger in my face again and shouted at me. 'I remember trying to say, 'But it wasn't on purpose,''and I think he took that as me talking back. Then I was shoved hard to the ground.' As she ran off, crying, she remembers: 'Mom asking while this was happening, ''Gjert, what are you doing?'' The first instance of alleged abuse against Ingrid was from 2019, when Gjert was driving her to Stavanger (16km/10miles north of the Ingebrigtsen hometown of Sandnes) for a run. She had forgotten her heart-rate monitor. Gjert, Ingrid says, called her 'useless' and 'dumb', and after she retorted with 'shut up', he slapped her in the face. Advertisement Gimre finished her questioning by asking Ingrid what the worst part of her childhood was. 'I wouldn't say it's the violence. It's bad, but I don't think it can compare to the mental toll over many years. 'The fear you live with in your own home. The absolute worst of all is how my mother has chosen to stand in this situation.' Tone is one of over 30 witnesses who will be called to testify across the next five weeks. 'If she doesn't choose to tell the truth, or support me and believe me, I won't have people like that in my life,' Ingrid said. She quit athletics aged 15, in the autumn of 2021, which was just after Jakob won Olympic 1,500m gold. 'Until I moved out (early 2022), it was a really difficult period for me. During that time, he (Gjert) would completely ignore me,' she testified. 'He said he didn't see me as his daughter anymore, that I wasn't worthy of it. He said I was ruining the family'. Ingrid said quitting 'was something I had to keep secret. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone because that would be destructive. He (Gjert) said it was embarrassing, that I had stood in front of all of Norway on the TV series and lied, saying I wanted to be great.' She, like older brother Kristoffer, experiences night terrors. 'I've dreamed that Gjert was running after me, trying to get me, and that the stands were full of people just watching,' she said, and has been prescribed melatonin. Since Gjert allegedly hit her at the start of 2022, Ingrid has had three anxiety attacks, over 50 hours of therapy and 'also developed severe migraines, which I still struggle with. My doctor and I have concluded that it's caused by stress'. With her testimony complete, the case is adjourned until Monday, where Gjert will give his evidence over three days. The trial continues. (Top photo of Jakob Ingebrigtsen: Lise Aserud/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
New York Times
26-03-2025
- New York Times
Jakob Ingebrigtsen says he was ‘clearly a victim of manipulation' by father Gjert
Jakob Ingebrigtsen has told a court he felt he was 'clearly a victim of manipulation' by his father Gjert while growing up. On Wednesday, the 24-year-old Olympic 5000m champion was questioned in his hometown of Sandnes, Norway by defence lawyers for Gjert Ingebrigtsen, his father, who is on trial for abuse charges in close relationships against Jakob and his younger sister, Ingrid. The maximum penalty, if Gjert is found guilty, is six years, a restraining order can be issued and there may be a separate punishment from the Norwegian Athletics Federation. Gjert has consistently denied all allegations, as well as the portrayal of events, and pled not guilty. Five other charges were dropped owing to lack of evidence and a sixth because it was brought out of time. The case pertaining to Jakob was initially dismissed, then appealed. Once re-opened, Jakob was questioned by police again, recalling, as defence lawyer Heidi Reisvang said in cross-examination, '200 to 300 incidents of minor importance, where you were verbally abused.' 'It's difficult to distinguish between the (police) interrogations,' Jakob responded. After a full day of questioning by the prosecution on Tuesday, the first line of cross-examination from Reisvang focused on the Ingebrigtsen brothers' public statement from October 19, 2023. Jakob, along with older brothers Henrik and Filip (both professional runners and, like Jakob, once 1,500m European gold medallists), wrote an op-ed in Norwegian newspaper VG. In it, they claimed Gjert was 'very aggressive and controlling' and said he 'used physical violence and threats' against them. Reisvang wanted to know why they went public, rather than to the police. 'If we went to the police, we didn't know what that would mean,' Jakob said. 'We grew up keeping it a secret, being trained not to talk about what happened at home. 'Some of us are public figures, so it was difficult to make these decisions together with the rest of the family. No matter what we did, it would be difficult to handle this publicly.' He said they had been trying to 'gain peace' with Gjert 'since January 2022, without success.' It was that February when they split with him as coach, following an alleged incident of Gjert hitting Ingrid with a towel. 'Our siblings came together when we returned to Sandnes in February 2022. Everyone was distressed, and we discussed what to do,' Jakob recounted. 'Ingrid wanted to contact the police and file a report, but we didn't know what to do or what was best.' They made contact with child welfare services, which Jakob called 'a cry for help'. Ingrid, now 19, moved out of the family home to live with elder brother Kristoffer from January 5, 2022, and has been in voluntary foster care since March of that year. 'I was in a difficult situation at the time and tried not to focus on this. I was in the middle of the season,' Jakob explained. 'I felt like people no longer believed me or us, and a lot of falsehoods were being spread that we had to respond to regularly.' In the 20 months between Gjert stopping coaching the brothers and their statement, Jakob said they were 'bombarded with calls and contacted from all directions'. He first made contact again — 'it must have been via text or phone' — with Gjert in the spring of 2022. Jakob spoke of one family gathering that year where Gjert 'went to my oldest brother (Kristoffer) and confronted him, saying that now everyone else had made peace except for him. It made it difficult to continue rebuilding the relationship.' Jakob says he also received a text from Gjert — who he has avoided calling his father and has often referred to as 'the defendant' or 'the accused' throughout the trial — after the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where Jake Wightman beat him to win 1,500m gold. 'I found (it) very condescending. It felt like the accused took pleasure in my failure, and the message made that quite clear,' Jakob said. At this point, Jakob's legal counsel, Mette Yvonne Larsen, spoke up when the defence lawyers tried to question his interpretation of the message as negative. Larsen called it a 'hopeless line of questioning. She (Reisvang) is putting words in his mouth.' 'Gjert said he could help me with training,' Jakob explained. 'It was obvious that he meant my failure in that race was due to our inability to train ourselves.' It was another example cited by Jakob to show how Gjert, he feels, refused to give them space. Yesterday, Jakob spoke of an altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2022. Gjert, who was no longer their coach, 'traveled halfway around the world to follow us. He deliberately scheduled his stays, his training camps, and competitions to coincide with our schedule'. Gjert still coaches, training middle-distance Norwegian athletes Per Svela and Narve Gilje Nordas (the latter won 1,500m bronze, finishing just behind Jakob, at the 2023 World Championships). Jakob says he, Henrik and Filip 'trained together for several years' with Svela and Nordas, and that Svela was with them at the training camp in Spain when the alleged abuse of Ingrid took place. For Jakob, Svela and Nordas were 'fully aware, clear that they couldn't continue working with Gjert,' but have since entered an 'even closer collaboration'. Jakob told the court that he and his brothers 'feel stabbed in the back.' In an interview with NRK published on Tuesday, Nordas said: 'If it is proven he (Gjert) has been violent, then of course it is over. I stand by what I have always said: Innocent until proven otherwise. That is why he has the same role until a possible final judgment.' He and training partner Svela have had their testimony brought forward earlier than initially scheduled, to mid-April from early May, to follow their training schedule. Having yesterday told of the resistance he felt from Gjert when wanting to move out of the family home in 2019 — testifying that his father called him a 'terrorist' — Jakob elaborated on how he says his former coach 'tried to sabotage the relationship' with his childhood sweetheart and wife Elisabeth. Defence lawyers showed a clip from Team Ingebrigtsen, a fly-on-the-wall docuseries that aired on Norwegian broadcaster NRK from 2016 to 2021 and followed the family. In one episode, Jakob wants Elisabeth to sleep over. His mother, Tone, approves, but says he must ask Gjert. 'That's probably not going to happen,' Gjert says. 'Come on, be nice,' Tone replies. 'Give me a reason to be nice. Give me a good argument, Elisabeth,' Gjert says. Jakob retorts that 'it's scientifically proven that you sleep better if you sleep with someone you love', and Gjert permits, with conditions. 'But if I find out that you're awake after 11 PM, I'll be in that room before you can say 'cake,' and she'll be on the moped.' Asked if that is an instance of him contradicting Gjert and, in the defence's view, not being abused or fearful as he is standing up to his father, Jakob says 'the situation would have been different if there hadn't been a camera crew. When someone was filming, things were portrayed in a cozy and humorous way'. When asked directly, Jakob said he felt safer when film crews were at the house, but that the edits 'portrayed (Gjert's behaviour) humorously when it is actually something completely different'. The cross-examination ends with the defence questioning Jakob's relationship with Gjert as a coach and how much he is responsible for his development and success. Jakob said: 'My upbringing was a bit special, in that I have experienced a great sense of mastery and been at a high level for a long time. That shouldn't be overlooked, but this was communicated in an extreme way. I was told that I could, would, become the best runner in the world.' 'I feel I was clearly a victim of manipulation. I believed what I was told,' he recounted. 'If you're told something your whole life, as a child, you don't see any other options or desires. (My) motivation came from the defendant.' The defence questioned him for not quitting athletics, as Jakob had other siblings who were not professional or had stopped running. 'I had no alternative. It was the life I lived,' he said. Reisvang's penultimate question put things simply: Was Gjert's strict discipline — which he accepts as a trait — necessary for Jakob to achieve what he has? 'If you take away something from my upbringing, the outcome would naturally have been different,' Jakob said, not suggesting better or worse. For all his medals, titles and world records (he holds four currently), he feels 'enormous downside. I have lost a lot and sacrificed many things. I definitely don't have the same joy for the sport that I wished for when I was 11 or 12.' Jakob is staying in court for the testimony of Ingrid, which starts on Wednesday and continues into Thursday. From Monday through Wednesday next week, Gjert will give his evidence. The trial continues. (Top photo: Lise Aserud/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
