Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen’s father charged with abusing one of his children: Lawyer

The father and former coach of Olympic champion runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been charged with abusing one of his other children, his lawyer said Monday, escalating an ongoing conflict involving one of Norway’s most prominent sporting families. But he and two of his brothers — who are also top-level runners — previously accused their father of using “physical violence and threats as part of our upbringing.” Police launched an investigation into Gjert Ingebrigtsen after that, and on Monday charged him with having physically and mentally abused another of his younger children. Gjert Ingebrigtsen’s lawyer John Christian Elden said that his 58-year-old client “disagrees with the presentation of the events” and “consequently does not admit criminal guilt.” He was named the Norwegian sports coach of the year in 2018 after Jakob, Henrik and Filip all won medals at major events that year. They said “the same aggression and physical punishment struck again” two years ago toward someone else, and that was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” The three brothers broke ties with their father and Gjert Ingebrigtsen has since started coaching another Norwegian runner, Narve Gilje Nordas.