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New York Times
28-04-2025
- New York Times
Jakob Ingebrigtsen's mother demands behind-closed-doors testimony in husband's trial
Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen interrupted his training camp in Sierra Nevada and flew back to Sandnes for one reason: to be present in the courtroom when his mother, Tone Ingebrigtsen, took the witness stand in the case where her husband, Gjert, is accused of abusing two of their children, both physically and psychologically, over several years. Advertisement 'I ask for respect that this is difficult,' Tone began when Judge Arild Dommersnes asked if she wanted to testify. Tone had exercised her right not to provide a statement in police questioning, so there was great anticipation about whether she would testify in court. The two alleged victims in the case are her own children, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Ingrid Ingebrigtsen, who have both told the court in detail about their experiences of growing up in fear, surveillance, and control from their father. Mother Tone is not part of the indictment and has been referred to by her children with some affection throughout the trial, but also as an oppressed and silenced woman. 'My mom has been very good and caring. But very restricted, where she hasn't had much power or control herself. In my childhood and upbringing with mom, I felt safe. But that safety quickly disappeared when we were all present, because she became so oppressed,' Jakob Ingebrigtsen said when he testified in the first week of the trial. Younger sister Ingrid responded from the witness stand when asked about her expectations for her mother's testimony later in the trial. 'After everything that has happened, I don't really have any expectations for her,' she said. 'But if she doesn't choose to tell the truth, support me, and believe in me, then I don't want people like that in my life.' That was part of the backdrop for Tone Ingebrigtsen's day in court. On her left sat the man she has been in a relationship with for almost 40 years, since she was 16 and he was 21. On her right sat several of her seven children. Not only the two victims, Jakob and Ingrid, but also European champion Filip Ingebrigtsen, flanked by eldest son Kristoffer and Jakob's wife, Elisabeth. It was hard not to see the symbolism of it all, as she literally sat squeezed between 'the ones I love,' as she phrased it. 'My family has received a lot of negative attention in the media over the past three years. Now I think it's enough with the media's feast at the expense of my family. I want to testify, but only with closed doors,' Tone said. Throughout the trial, which started on March 24, the hearings have been conducted in open court. Gjert Ingebrigtsen and his defense lawyers attempted several times to close the trial to the press and the public, while his victimized children succeeded in their wish to give the public full access to the court proceedings. Advertisement The court justified this, in part, by the fact that the defendant had participated in the TV series Team Ingebrigtsen and had thus sought the spotlight himself. But this time, Tone Ingebrigtsen issued the court an ultimatum: if you want to hear my version of what happened, it will be without the press being present. Judge Arild Dommersnes reminded Tone Ingebrigtsen that the court had allowed the press to be present throughout, even when the doors had been closed to the public, and emphasized that the press had, without exception, respected the reporting ban. But Tone Ingebrigtsen remained firm. After several breaks, where all parties had their say and the press was prevented from reporting on the proceedings, the judge decided that Tone Ingebrigtsen would have her way. He did not hide the fact that it was a problematic decision and made it clear that the court 'did not appreciate being put in a coercive situation.' However, under the law, testimony can be exempted from public access when there are special circumstances, and when the testimony can significantly contribute to the clarification of the case. In the end, this consideration became the most weighty for the judge, despite protests from both the press representatives and the victims' lawyer for several of the Ingebrigtsen children, Mette Yvonne Larsen. 'This is a woman who has sought public attention to a significant degree for 20 years, so I have no understanding for this,' Larsen told TV 2 of the decision. A researcher who has followed the trial, as well as Filip Ingebrigtsen, Kristoffer Ingebrigtsen, and Jakob's wife Elisabeth, were also asked to leave the room at Tone's request. A representative from the press expressed the desire to appeal the court's decision with suspensive effect. 'You can appeal, but there will be no suspensive effect,' replied Judge Dommersnes. Thus, no one other than the court's actors will have insight into what one of the most central witnesses in the trial has to say, a witness who has also been physically present during several of the episodes that form part of the charges against Gjert Ingebrigtsen. Gjert, who has only been referred to as 'the defendant' by Jakob in court, faces up to six years in prison if found guilty. The indictment states that he 'subjected son Jakob to physical and psychological abuse from 2008 to 2018,' while the alleged criminal acts against daughter Ingrid are said to have occurred from 2018 to 2022. Advertisement Jakob Ingebrigtsen stated during his testimony on day 2 of the trial that 'mom stands in an impossible situation and has no control over her own life.' 'What do you think about the fact that Tone has not testified to the police?' prosecutor Angjerd Kvernenes asked. 'I think it's something the defendant has decided. I don't think she has many thoughts about it herself.' 'Has Tone witnessed any events?' 'Yes.' 'What kind of events?' 'Verbal abuse and threats of being beaten up. And she has been present a large part of my life, in a daily life of fear and terror.' 'But how do you feel about Tone not wanting to testify about things she has seen?' 'I think it's difficult. Because I know what kind of victim mom has been, and is, of this violence. She stands in an impossible situation and has no control over her own life. But she is an adult. And in some way, one must stand by the choices they make.' Younger sister Ingrid testified in court that at one point, when she was in foster care after the incident where Gjert Ingebrigtsen hit her with a towel, she asked her mother if she herself had been subjected to violence by the defendant. 'I asked her (Tone). She told me I had to shape up and come home, and that he (Gjert) hadn't hit me with his fist. It wasn't so bad that he had hit me with his fist. Then I saw it as an opportunity to ask her, has he been violent with you? She answered, 'Not with his fist.' I took that as a yes, but not directly with his fist,' said Ingrid. Court commentator Leif Welhaven, who has followed the entire trial for Norway's largest newspaper, VG, believes everyone understands that Tone Ingebrigtsen is in a difficult position. At the same time, he finds it problematic that the public is excluded from such a central testimony in a case that has been open all along. Advertisement 'It's a crucial piece that will not be known. You get a central hole in the explanation, and it will be hard to get closure on the case when there's such an incompleteness. There's a reason why the main principle in court proceedings is openness. Because the patchwork we're getting now is fundamentally problematic,' Welhaven said. He believes Judge Arild Dommersnes was forced to choose between what he saw as the lesser of two evils. 'The alternative to saying that the press should be allowed to be present was that she (Tone) would have just left, and that would have made the trial even more incomplete. There was no optimal solution for anyone. Tone hasn't testified to the police before and has been present with the family all along. She's at the core of the case and one of the most central witnesses. Now many central questions in this case will remain up in the air for the public,' Welhaven concluded. The trial against Gjert Ingebrigtsen continues until May 16. (Top photo by Heiko Junge/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
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.
The Guardian
27-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Jakob Ingebrigtsen's father forced daughter to keep running, court hears
The father of double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen forced his daughter to keep running even though she was struggling to breathe after forgetting to take her asthma medication, a court has heard. Ingrid Ingebrigtsen said that her father, Gjert – who coached her brothers Jakob, Henrik and Filip to international glory and became a TV star after the success of the documentary Team Ingebrigtsen – had scolded her during the incident, which occurred on a treadmill in the family's basement. 'I ended up jumping off the treadmill, ran up to my room and breathed,' Ingrid told the court in Sagnes, Norway. 'I tried to calm down. I expressed that I wanted to quit athletics.' A few days later Ingrid, who is now 18, said that she had broken down in tears in front of producers of the fly-on-the-wall series. 'They asked me a normal question, about the future of my career,' she added. 'Then I saw no future. Then I broke down brutally. I couldn't control it. They looked at me with their backs turned and were horrified. The interview ended.' The documentary series is the most successful show in Norwegian TV history, but Ingrid told the court that it didn't always reflect the reality of family life. 'I was five years old when the recording began,' she said. 'This is something I grew up with and lived with, without having had a real choice myself. You could easily notice that something changed when a camera came along. I think they probably got a lot that wasn't included. 'The entire series is not rigged, but certain situations and conversations could have been rigged,' she added. 'We were placed in the kitchen and 'now we're going to talk about this'. But the conversations we had were real.' According to the indictment, Gjert is alleged to have used threats, coercion and violence against his daughter, as well as restricted her freedom of movement. Gjert, who is facing six years in jail for abusive behaviour towards Jakob and Ingrid, denies all allegations of violence. On her second day of her evidence, Ingrid also told the court that her father had put his finger in her face and whipped her with a wet towel when she asked to go out with friends. She said that the relationship with her father had broken down after she had decided to stop running the previous autumn, and that she had been forced to stay at home during her free time against her will. 'He could ignore me completely,' she said. 'I felt like he was mad at me. And one day he said that he didn't see me as his daughter anymore.' Asked about the incident in January 2022, Ingrid said she had pushed back when he refused to let her hang out with friends between 5pm and 6pm, only for him to put his finger in her face. 'I had felt trapped in my own home for so long,' she said. 'I was pretty determined that today I would make it happen. I didn't accept the 'no' I got from him.' 'I had been so depressed and ignored for several months, I simply felt bullied. I pushed his finger away. To this day I don't understand how I dared to do it, but I was probably pretty upset and angry. 'He had a small towel that he had been sweating in, so it was wet. He whipped it at my face. First once without hitting. Then he did it once more, and then he hit me on the cheek.' Ingrid told the court that she then ran to the wife of her brother Henrik, who lived two doors away. Afterwards she said her father called her 'many times and said that if I didn't come, he would kind of come and get me'. Under cross-examination, Ingrid was shown a series of text messages between her and her father in 2021, which she agreed showed that she had never asked for a day off from training before she quit running. The court was also shown a text message from Gjert on 6 January 2022, after he was alleged to have hit her with the towel. 'I apologise with all my heart,' it read. 'I promise that I will never raise my voice against you again in my entire life.' On Monday the court was shown a photograph of the mark on Ingrid's face. The incident led to Jakob and his two brothers ending their training relationship with Gjert and going public with their allegations. Ingrid said she had not lived with her parents since. The trial, which is due to last until 16 May, continues.
The Guardian
26-03-2025
- The Guardian
‘He hit me in the face': sister of Jakob Ingebrigtsen struck by father as a child, court told
The sister of the double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has told a court that she was struck in the face by their father as a child for forgetting her heart-rate monitor. The incident is said to have occurred in 2018 or 2019 when Ingrid, who is now 18, was driving to training with her father, Gjert. When she told him, she said there was a lot of screaming and he said she was 'incompetent' and 'stupid'. 'I clearly said: 'Shut up', because it didn't stop,' Ingrid told the court in Sandes in Norway. 'When I said that, I got a hand in the face. He hit me in the face. It was fast and it was hard. It hurt.' The court heard it was one of seven alleged incidents of physical and verbal abuse she was subjected to by Gjert, who shot to global prominence after coaching three of his sons to Olympic, world and European glory. Their success was captured in the TV documentary series Team Ingebrigtsen, each episode of which was watched by more than one million Norwegians. However, the third day of the trial of Gjert Ingebrigtsen heard of more harrowing allegations that were never captured by the cameras. Gjert, who faces six years in prison if convicted of abusive behaviour towards Jakob and Ingrid, denies all allegations of violence. On another occasion Ingrid said that her father had screamed so forcibly at her in the car that she had broken down in tears. She said she thought the incident had occurred after she couldn't change the radio or check the weather forecast. 'He asked me if I was afraid of him,' she told the court. 'I think that was very difficult to answer. I remember thinking: 'What happens if I answer yes? What happens if I answer no?' So I didn't answer right away. Then I remember he asked again and again until I answered. Then I ended up answering yes.' Her father could not understand her answer, the judges heard. 'It was the stupidest thing he had ever heard,' added Ingrid. 'And didn't drive home until I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, especially not my mum, because he was afraid of what she would think.' According to the indictment, Gjert is alleged to have abused his daughter 'by using threats, coercion, violence, restricting her freedom of movement and violating her in other ways'. The court heard that these incidents included calling Ingrid an 'idiot' when she was sick and pushing her with both hands in the upper body so that she fell to the floor after an argument. Earlier in the day, Jakob told the court under cross-examination that the TV series Team Ingebrigtsen was not an accurate portrayal of what went on in the family. 'The problem we had with it is that it didn't reflect reality,' said the Tokyo 2020 Olympics 1500m and Paris 2024 5,000m champion. 'A lot changed when the camera crew was present. When they film, it is presented in a more humorous and cosy way.' On Tuesday Jakob told the court that he had been kicked and punched by his father when he was as young as eight or nine, and that he continued to face other threats as he got older. But when questioned he admitted that he had not seen his father do anything physical to his older brothers Henrik and Filip – and that when he moved out of the family home at 18 to be with his now-wife, Elisabeth, he still lived just 300 metres from his father. 'That was as far as I dared to go, because I felt I definitely needed my parents' consent, even though I was of legal age,' said Jakob. 'I was afraid that the defendant would sabotage my life. He had a lot of control over finances, training and things that meant a lot to me. ' Jakob, who told the court that he had split from his father and coach early in 2022 after he hit Ingrid in the face with a wet towel, said that Gjert had messaged him later that year when he could only win silver over 1500m in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene. 'The defendant was happy that I failed,' he said. 'And he conveyed that with that message.' The trial, which is due to last until 16 May, continues.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jakob Ingebrigtsen describes violent childhood with ‘no free will' in testimony against father Gjert
Jakob Ingebrigtsen described living with 'no free will' during a violent childhood as he testified against his father and former coach Gjert at a trial on Tuesday. Gjert Ingebrigtsen denies physically abusing two of his children, one of whom is double Olympic champion Jakob. The younger sibling cannot be named for legal reasons. The 59-year-old Gjert faces up to six years in prison, with the trial due to run until 16 May in Sandnes, Norway. 'My upbringing was closely tied to fear,' Jakob said. 'I've been aware of a fear-based culture for a long time. As a teenager, it was a concept I really identified with, because I felt I had no free will or say in anything. I was in an environment where everything was controlled and decided for me. There was an enormous amount of manipulation.' During the first day of the trial on Monday, Gjert Ingebrigtsen told the court he was innocent of the charges against him. He is due to testify next week. Gjert's intense training methods were the subject of the popular documentary Team Ingebrigtsen which shone a light on the family's almost cult-like obsession with sporting excellence, with the children put on strict professionalised training programmes at a young age. Jakob's older brothers, Henrik and Filip, are also professional athletes, and in October 2023 the trio published a joint-letter in Norwegian outlet VG spelling out the behaviour of their father. 'We have grown up with a father who has been very aggressive and controlling and who has used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing,' the brothers alleged in an interview with the newspaper. 'We still feel discomfort and fear which has been in us since childhood.' The Norwegian state prosecutor later charged Gjert with beating two of his children at a time when he was also their coach. According to the court indictment, he allegedly hit and kicked Jakob and threatened to 'beat him to death'. Jakob, 24, told the court about several incidents of violence. Prosecutors allege Gjert struck Jakob several times after he received a negative report about his behaviour from school when he was aged eight. 'I remember being extremely scared. Now I've done something seriously wrong. I'm terrified of what's going to happen,' Jakob told the court about the lead-up to the incident. Jakob also told the court that when at age 16 he met Elisabeth Asserson, who is now his wife, his father tried to put a stop to the relationship, fearing having any relationship would harm his son's sporting career. 'I found it extremely difficult that someone like my own father could speak that way about Elisabeth, someone I cared about,' he told the court. Gjert coached his three sons until 2022, helping Jakob to secure his first Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 in the 1500m as he forged a glittering career as one of the world's leading athletes. After the split, Jakob added 5000m success at Paris 2024 along with a large collection of other global medals. All three of the athlete brothers are set to testify at the trial. additional reporting by Reuters
