In late April, Gjert Ingebrigtsen was charged with assault in close relationships. The charges concerned violence, threats, and coercion against one of his children during the period 2018 to 2022. Five charges were dropped due to lack of evidence, one due to statute of limitations.
In late May, it became known that four of the cases were appealed, and the Director of Public Prosecutions decided that the case concerning Jakob Ingebrigtsen would be further investigated.
On October 23, the police announced that the investigation had been completed. The evidence and a recommendation were sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions' office in Rogaland for assessment, writes NTB.
Went public
Father Gjert Ingebrigtsen's training methods became public since brothers Henrik, Filip, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen wrote a chronicle in VG where they claimed that their father used violence and threats during their upbringing.
Mette Yvonne Larsen, legal representative for five of the Ingebrigtsen children, tells NTB that the additional charges against Gjert Ingebrigtsen regarding son Jakob are serious and span a long period.
The abuse goes back to when he was very young. There will be extensive evidence with 34 witnesses and a large number of documents, says Larsen.
The athletics coach has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen maintains what he has said all the time, he does not acknowledge guilt for the circumstances he is accused of and that he never subjected any of his children to either physical or psychological abuse, say his defense attorneys John Christian Elden and Heidi Reisvang.
Asks for calm
It is unclear when the case will be heard in court, but likely at the earliest in the beginning of next year.
The Ingebrigtsen brothers' spokesperson Espen Skoland has commented on the development on Jakob's behalf in a text message to the newspaper Dagbladet.
He asks for calm and does not want to say anything more about the matter beyond what he has said.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the Olympic gold on 1,500 meters in Tokyo 2021 and followed up with another Olympic gold in Paris this summer, then on the distance 5,000 meters. He has also won two World Championship golds and several European Championship golds.
