Norwegian police said on Thursday they had opened an investigation into accusations of abuse made by Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and his brothers Henrik and Filip against their father Gjert.
“We have carried out several preliminary investigations and the information that emerged has led to the opening of an enquiry, said police inspector Terese Braut Vage.
“The aim is to determine whether criminal offences have been committed,” she added in a statement.
The Ingebrigtsen brothers said in a joint article in Norwegian daily VG last week: “We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father, who used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing.
“We still feel a sense of discomfort and fear that we have felt since childhood,” they added.
Their father, who strongly denies the accusations, coached the Ingebrigtsen brothers up to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, where the youngest Jakob, 23, won gold in the men’s 1500m.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen’s lawyer has said the Norwegian police’s decision was “not unexpected”.
“My client is confident about the outcome of the investigation,” said John Christian Elden, whilst also stressing that it was his client’s “only opportunity to prove his innocence”.
In a 2019 interview with British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, Gjert stated: “You have to be a dictator. You have to take decisions in a short time and have to believe that what you are doing is the best for the boys.”
Reacting to the accusations made in the press by his sons, he said in a message sent by his lawyer that he had “never resorted to violence”.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the most successful of the three brothers, twice winning gold in the world championships 5000m in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Olympic 1500m gold.
Henrik, 32, and Filip, 30, were European champions in the 1500m in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
After breaking with his sons, Gjert Ingebrigtsen shocked Norwegian athletics by becoming the trainer of another runner, Narve Gilje Nordas.
The partnership has provoked tensions between the latter and the Ingebrigtsen brothers, as well as within the Norwegian Athletics Association.
