LONDON, United Kingdom, December 2 – The father of Olympic 5,000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will stand trial next year after being charged with alleged physical and mental abuse of his son.
Jakob, 24, and his brothers Filip, 31, and Henrik, 33, who are also Olympic athletes, last year made public claims that their father – who was their coach until 2022 – had been violent.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who denies any criminal guilt, was previously charged with physical abuse by Norwegian police in April.
The 58-year-old was indicted on 29 November and it is hoped legal proceedings can take place in the first half of 2025, the Norwegian public prosecutor’s office confirmed to BBC Sport.
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, Filip and Henrik accused their father of physical violence and abusive behaviour in a Norwegian newspaper column last year.
The trio, who are among seven Ingebrigtsen children, wrote that they “still feel discomfort and fear” about Gjert, who they accused of being “very aggressive and controlling”.
Gjert, who stepped down as his sons’ coach in 2022 after Jakob won 1500m gold at the Tokyo Olympics, said via his lawyer that statement was “baseless” and he “never used violence against his children”.
Gjert was charged with one offence in April – but five cases were dropped on the strength of evidence and one other because of time constraints.
Mette Yvonne Larsen, who represents five of the Ingebrigtsen children, told Norwegian website VG they would appeal against at least one of the dropped cases.
Public prosecutor Birgitte Budal Lovlund told BBC Sport: “I can confirm that Gjert Ingebrigtsen on November 29th was indicted by our office for physical and mental abuse of his son Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
“The case has been forwarded to the district court of Sor-Rogaland for planning. The prosecution has requested that at least 30 days be set aside for the legal proceedings that are expected to take place during 2025, preferably the first half of the year. This, however, is up to the court to decide.”
In addition to his two Olympic titles, Jakob is a two-time 5,000m world champion, two-time world 1500m silver medallist, and 11-time European champion.
Brothers Henrik and Filip were European 1500m champions in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
BBC Sport has approached Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s representatives for comment.
