Olympic champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s father convicted of hitting daughter but avoids jail | Other | Sport

Gjert Ingebrigtsen, the father of Olympic champion runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, has avoided jail after being found guilty of hitting his daughter. The 59-year-old had been accused of physically and mentally abusing Jakob and his younger sister Ingrid during their childhood. He coached Jakub to Olympic gold over 1,500 metres in 2021 before they parted ways the following year.

The trial, which has sent shockwaves around the sporting world, came to a climax on Monday as Gjert was conviced of hitting Ingrid with a towel during an argument in 2022. He was handed a 15-day suspended sentence, meaning he will not be spending time in jail. Ingrid, who is 19 but left the family home aged 15, was awarded 10,000 kroner (£744) in compensation by the court.

Despite being found guilty of hitting Ingrid, Gjert was cleared of abusing Jakob. The court announced there was insufficient evidence to support the latter’s claims that his father had overseen a childhood marked by fear, violence and threats.

The court said: “Jakob shows no signs of fear or submission in relation to the defendant. He stands his ground and retaliates against the defendant’s verbal abuse. Violence in close relationships can occur in secret and remain hidden from the outside world.

“However, the explanations and recordings reviewed in the preceding paragraphs are difficult to reconcile with the prosecution’s claim that the defendant subjected Jakob to continuous and repeated abuse throughout the period from 2008 to 2018.

“Even though Jakob and his brothers and spouses have given credible statements, the total weight of the statements and other evidence reviewed means that the court must conclude that there is reasonable doubt about the defendant’s guilt.”

Gjert oversaw a training regime which propelled Jakob and his brothers Henrik and Filip to sporting stardom. Two years ago, the brothers wrote a joint article in which they accused Gjert of being ‘very aggressive and controlling’, which their father denied.

They alleged that Gjert had used ‘physical violence and threats as part of their upbringing’. Jakub claimed that his father had kicked and punched him while he was still in primary school and that Gjert had threatened to beat him to death during an argument.

The brothers said they had decided to go public with their accusations after Gjert allegedly struck Ingrid in the face with a towel during a row over whether she could go out with her friends.

Gjert denied the charges against him, admitting that while he was a strict father with a ‘traditional and patriarchal’ style of parenting, he was ‘overprotective’ of his children.

Commenting after Monday’s hearing, his lawyer John Christian Elden said: “This case has no winners and today’s verdict shows that all those affected have been exposed to an enormous burden that should have been avoided.”