I didn't feel like I had any free will, said Jakob Ingebrigtsen when he was heard in Sør-Rogaland District Court in Sandnes.
The trial, which started on Monday, concerns Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who is charged with assault and abuse of two of his children, a daughter who has requested anonymity and son Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who is far from unknown.
"Turned against me"
The 24-year-old, the world's best runner on distances between 1,500 and 5,000 meters, wrote a chronicle together with his brothers Henrik and Filip – also top-level runners – in VG in 2023. There, they told about a childhood filled with physical violence and threats, and that they therefore broke with their father, who was also their coach.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who will be heard next week, has denied the crimes.
I remember how it often turned against me if I didn't want to or lacked motivation to train. I was told that I wouldn't become anything if I didn't train, said Jakob Ingebrigtsen in court.
In our home, there were very many rules, says the running star. But they weren't always easy to follow.
The best was to do as little as possible, because then I was sure to stay within the framework.
One memory concerns how his father reacted when Jakob was supposed to have misbehaved at school.
I didn't know what it was about, but he didn't believe me. He accused me of lying and then it became a confrontation where he hit me several times in the head. My father attacked me and hit me in the head several times.
Got worse with the TV series
He also experienced that it got worse when the family started participating in the TV series "Team Ingebrigtsen".
After the series started and we became more public, he became more dangerous to be around, because then it wasn't just about yelling and controlling, but also about an agenda where you had to promote yourself and try to be a hero in some strange way, said the double Olympic gold medalist at the same time as Gjert Ingebrigtsen shook his head from his place in the courtroom.
When asked if he can look back on any nice memories from his childhood, Jakob Ingebrigtsen replied:
I can't think of any nice memories I've had with my whole family.
The running star will also testify on Wednesday. On Thursday, his sister will be heard.
Running coach Gjert Ingebrigtsen is charged with suspected assault and abuse of a daughter and son Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who has double Olympic and World Championship gold outdoors and holds, among other things, the world record in the 3,000 meters outdoors.
In the absence of evidence or statute of limitations, no crimes against any other siblings are included in the indictment.
The trial is scheduled to last until May 16.
Monday and parts of Tuesday were devoted to the prosecutor's presentation of evidence. Starting Tuesday, Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be heard for one and a half days.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen will be heard for three days during the second week of the trial.
