Jakob Ingebrigtsen tells court of fear and control in testimony against father

Double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen described a childhood marked by fear and manipulation when he took the witness stand on Tuesday to testify against his father and former coach.

Gjert Ingebrigtsen has pleaded not guilty to charges of physically abusing two of his children, including the track athlete. The 59-year-old faces up to six years in prison, with the trial due to run until May 16 in Sandnes, Norway.

“My upbringing was closely tied to fear. I’ve been aware of a fear-based culture for a long time. As a teenager it was a concept I identified with, because I felt I had no free will or say in anything,” said Jakob, who won 5,000 metres gold at the Paris Games and the 1,500 metres in Tokyo.

“I was in an environment where everything was controlled and decided for me. There was an enormous amount of manipulation,” he was quoted as telling the court by Norwegian state broadcaster NRK.

During the first day of the trial on Monday, Gjert told the court he was innocent of the charges against him, Norwegian news agency NTB reported.

He is due to testify next week, NTB said.

Jakob, 24, told the court about several incidents of violence.

Prosecutors allege Gjert struck Jakob several times after he received a negative report about his behaviour from school when he was aged eight.

“I remember being extremely scared. Now I’ve done something seriously wrong. I’m terrified of what’s going to happen,” Jakob told the court about the lead-up to the incident.

He also told the court that when at age 16 he met Elisabeth Asserson, who is now his wife, his father tried to put a stop to the relationship, fearing having any relationship would harm his son's sporting career.

“I found it difficult that my own father could speak that way about Elisabeth, someone I cared about,” he told the court. 

Reuters