Gjert Ingebrigtsen denies being violent with his children, describes himself as "overly protective"

The trial of Gjert Ingebrigtsen, father of Norwegian runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Olympic medallist and World champion, continues into the second week. He was accused by three of his sons, Jakob, Flip, and Henrik, all of them Olympic athletes, of psychological and physical abuses towards them as well as their sister Ingrid, who now lives in a foster family, after an incident in January 2022, when Gjert allegedly whipped Ingrid in the face with a wet towel, that caused the brothers to cut ties with their father, who used to be their coach.

In Gjert's testimony, the father, 59, has denied that he ever hit them, saying that he is completely anti-violence. He denied accusations of Jakob, who accused him of hitting him in the face when he was late for a race and kicked him in the stomach when he fell of a scooter when he was a child. Gjert did confirm that on one occasion he threw their PlayStation out of the window as he wanted to "implement non-violence in my children's upbringing" and that had "a constant urge to play games with elements of violence" (according to The Guardian, he cited Counter Strike and Grand Theft Auto as examples) because "violence is not a solution to anything."

Gjert, who broke down in tears several times, says it is unthinkable that he could ever hit their children, explained his version of the towel incident with Ingrid, saying he only made contact with her finger, and say that he misses her every day, as the has not lived with her parents since. In his defence, the coach describes himself as an overly protective father, matching the "absolutely extreme" sporting ambition of some of his children (via BBC Sport), and says that he loves them very much.

Gjert Ingebrigtsen faces up to six years in prison for abusive behaviour towards Jakob and Ingrid. The trial will last until May 16.