Here's a summary of why the court case is happening:
1. The boys split from their father/coach. Gjert was fired as a coach and they bought his share of the running joint venture.
2. This had two purposes. Distancing themselves from who their father had been up to this point both personally and formally, but also giving Gjert an out. Just look at their statements at the time, saying how it's the strain and friction from mixing roles that makes it untenable to continue like before. No criminal accusations at this point. Gjert had a way out.
3. If Gjert stepped away from the running scene altogether, the accusations behind the indictments would've probably been swept under the rug. Instead he continued coaching other athletes in the periphery of the Ingebrigtsen training group, and his presence continued in the running scene.
4. The media circus involving the two camps that erupted every time there was a championship forced the boys to tell their side of the story, because it didn't make a lot of sense at the time. If they didn't reveal why they demanded that Gjert should be nowhere near their "workplace", it would just look like the biggest athletics star in the nation instructing the national federation on what to do, i.e. removing the coach of his (biggest) rival.
5. The nature of the things they told meant they also had to formally report it to the police, who in turn were forced to investigate. The results of the investigation resulted in Gjert being indicted for violence in close relationships, and here we are today.
For #2, maybe a third purpose was no longer wanting to share a split of Jakob's earnings with Gjert? Jakob was just starting to make more $ as Olympic champ when he cut ties with his father.
For #3, why shouldn't Gjert be able to continue coaching in the sport if that's what he wants to do? He's obviously good at it. He shouldn't be forced to retire if he wants to continue coaching. Let the man coach.
Because it sounds like he actively tried to follow them and interrupt them when on camps and competitions. If he is found guilty I'll bet he will not be able to coach, at least formally.
I have a theory on why JI has it out against his dad. Not so much any verbal abuse and stealing his childhood, as lots of parents do to their kids here in the US, you see it a lot for soccer, wrestling and baseball…prob other sports but def the high % rich white sports. Little Tommy has to do practice before school, after school then all summer long. I knew a few in school like this, and once they hit college they cut off their parents and never looked back, some dropped out of college and became addicts or alcoholics. But with JI I bet it was deeper, prob blood tests to perfectly dial blood lactate levels and V02 max tests and all the other tests to optimize things all at a very young age. We might find out PEDs we’re involved, who knows but say it was all legal try to imagine rocky 4 with drago, but with a 8 yr old kid. Imagine the PTSD as a kid that your workouts hurt, getting poked with needles and medical tubes and testing and never getting to say “I don’t like this dad”
it reminds me of grainville and his dad’s relationship, but 100x worse. I mean all the sh*ty body tattoos screams rebellion, self harm and deep insecurity from a severely painful childhood that JI prob doesn’t even recognize
Spot on. I suspect another part of it is Jakob wanting his own separate identity from his dad like many young adults get when they go off to college. It's actually an important part of young adult identity/psychological development. College is a time when young adults explore their identities, interests, and values independent of how their parents tried to mold them. Jakob never got that opportunity.
For so long, Jakob was seen as his dad's creation, like a running version of Frankenstein's monster. His dad got so much publicity and adoration as the father/coach of 3 elite successful runners. I think Jakob resented that, and he wanted to prove that he was more than just his dad's science experiment. He wanted to show everyone that he can be successful on his own.
The whole thing is sad. I've been reading up on it this morning. Some points.
1.The saddest to me - Jakob says he doesn't remember any good times with his dad. He also only refers to Gjert as "the defendant" and stopped calling him dad at age 11.
Can you remember any good experiences at home, the prosecutor asked. – I'm a little unsure, said Jakob after a pause for thought. The prosecutor then read from a police interrogation in which
2) The brothers claim Gjert said he'd sabotage their training. What happened when the brothers broke up with their father Gjert Ingebrigtsen as coach in early 2022? – He conveyed that he would sabotage me, Henrik and Filip as much as he could, he said.
3. The trial seems to be a lot different than what would happen in the US. In the US, i believe most of what is being talked about would not be allowed at all. Emotional abuse isn't a crime in the US. I mean they spent a lot of time talking about how Gjert didn't like Jakob playing on his playstation.
The prosecution also played a video that older brother Henrik Ingebrigtsen filmed, without his father's knowledge. The video showed the brothers with their father in St. Moritz, Switzerland, at a training camp. Jakob Ingebrigtsen brought a Playstation, and his father reportedly reacted to that. – I create your life so you can live from it. But you try to destroy it, said Gjert Ingebrigtsen during the loud argument.
I'm pretty sure you have stuff like that in the US, both in the form of habit evidence and character evidence? Also, there are allegations on physical abuse.
4) It's ridiculous this trial is going to last 7 weeks. That is an incredible waste of government resources and time.
Who are you to judge that? Why is it a waste of time to take it serious when someone is accused of being violent against their children? Shouldnt the state be there for those who cannot protect themselves? Should they rather clear the court room so they could give life sentence to someone with the "wrong" skin colour and zip code who have smoked a joint? Maybe if you didn't rush through your court cases, US wouldn't have up to 4% wrongfull conviction rate for those on death row (even going up to above 10% in the 70's and 80's according to one study).
This post was edited 6 minutes after it was posted.
I don't really want to comment on the ins and outs of this case but I will say this is just a sad and sh-tty situation all-round. Damn.
I have a theory on why JI has it out against his dad. Not so much any verbal abuse and stealing his childhood, as lots of parents do to their kids here in the US, you see it a lot for soccer, wrestling and baseball…prob other sports but def the high % rich white sports. Little Tommy has to do practice before school, after school then We might find out PEDs we’re involved, who knows but say it was all legal try to imagine rocky 4 with drago, but with a 8 yr old kid.
I think this legal case puts to bed the idea that Gjert was doping his children, at least with their knowledge. There is no way they would be trying to get him put behind bars if he could turn around at any moment and dish dirt like that on them.
Spot on. I also don't think Jakob should be commended for going to China right before this trial. He should have been in Norway with his family, especially his little sister. Jakob has a disturbing pattern of putting his running before his family. Remember he left his wife in the hospital during childbirth to go to the track and do a workout! That's terrible.
And I don't want to hear, "ThAt's HiS JoB". No regular man leaves his wife in the middle of labor to go to the office to write and file a TPS report.
I think you are twisting things a little here. Elisabeth (Jakob’s wife) stressed that Jakob drove her to the hospital. But since there were no signs of labor he left for a training session, and got to support her through the labor and birth some hours after his return…
I think this legal case puts to bed the idea that Gjert was doping his children, at least with their knowledge. There is no way they would be trying to get him put behind bars if he could turn around at any moment and dish dirt like that on them.
I don't think so. Gjert dishing dirt like that on them would just be dishing dirt on himself. He'd be the one who'd look the worst in such a revelation as the father/coach.
Spot on. I also don't think Jakob should be commended for going to China right before this trial. He should have been in Norway with his family, especially his little sister. Jakob has a disturbing pattern of putting his running before his family. Remember he left his wife in the hospital during childbirth to go to the track and do a workout! That's terrible.
And I don't want to hear, "ThAt's HiS JoB". No regular man leaves his wife in the middle of labor to go to the office to write and file a TPS report.
I think you are twisting things a little here. Elisabeth (Jakob’s wife) stressed that Jakob drove her to the hospital. But since there were no signs of labor he left for a training session, and got to support her through the labor and birth some hours after his return…
I thought Rojo said Jakob was training in another country when she first went into labor, and he had to fly to Norway to meet her at the hospital.
I don't really want to comment on the ins and outs of this case but I will say this is just a sad and sh-tty situation all-round. Damn.
I have a theory on why JI has it out against his dad. Not so much any verbal abuse and stealing his childhood, as lots of parents do to their kids here in the US, you see it a lot for soccer, wrestling and baseball…prob other sports but def the high % rich white sports. Little Tommy has to do practice before school, after school then all summer long. I knew a few in school like this, and once they hit college they cut off their parents and never looked back, some dropped out of college and became addicts or alcoholics. But with JI I bet it was deeper, prob blood tests to perfectly dial blood lactate levels and V02 max tests and all the other tests to optimize things all at a very young age. We might find out PEDs we’re involved, who knows but say it was all legal try to imagine rocky 4 with drago, but with a 8 yr old kid. Imagine the PTSD as a kid that your workouts hurt, getting poked with needles and medical tubes and testing and never getting to say “I don’t like this dad”
it reminds me of grainville and his dad’s relationship, but 100x worse. I mean all the sh*ty body tattoos screams rebellion, self harm and deep insecurity from a severely painful childhood that JI prob doesn’t even recognize
Good to see you back, Chad. I like it when you post thoughtful things like this. Thank you.
Wow, just read the coverage in the Guardian. Gjert sounds like a monster. I’m sure some others will testify that he was a nice guy, always treated the kids well, bought them ice cream on their birthdays, blah, blah, blah. Hope Jakob and his sibs can overcome all of this and lead happy and fulfilling adult lives. The question for Jakob someday would be, would he trade away all of his T&F accomplishments to have a nice and supportive dad? Does he think he’d be the same runner today if he was the product of a healthy home life? Would he even be a runner??
I think you are twisting things a little here. Elisabeth (Jakob’s wife) stressed that Jakob drove her to the hospital. But since there were no signs of labor he left for a training session, and got to support her through the labor and birth some hours after his return…
I thought Rojo said Jakob was training in another country when she first went into labor, and he had to fly to Norway to meet her at the hospital.
Jakob took a plane home after getting a call from Elisabeth. He then drove her to the hospital. But there was no emergency -he could have spent the whole day waiting by her bed for the labor (or been there the whole day if it had started), but since she only rested in the bed he chose to train (probably with a cell phone in his pocket). Feel free to correct me if my memory serves me wrong (Jfr “Ingebrigtsen: Born to run”).
But you forget, if they were doping, it was probably Gjerts making. Everything they do in training comes from Gjert. In some form or the other.
So if Gjert brings it up, that they are using PEDs, it may come to light that he was giving underage kids PEDs...
I think its more likely in that case that after the trial Gjert will accuse them of doping. If he looses. If he wins he should n probably will, lay low for a long time.
I think this legal case puts to bed the idea that Gjert was doping his children, at least with their knowledge. There is no way they would be trying to get him put behind bars if he could turn around at any moment and dish dirt like that on them.
I don't think so. Gjert dishing dirt like that on them would just be dishing dirt on himself. He'd be the one who'd look the worst in such a revelation as the father/coach.
He would hardly have much to lose if it's true he could face jail time? Certainly not as much as Jakob and his brothers. Will he even ever be allowed to coach again after this?
Wow, just read the coverage in the Guardian. Gjert sounds like a monster. I’m sure some others will testify that he was a nice guy, always treated the kids well, bought them ice cream on their birthdays, blah, blah, blah. Hope Jakob and his sibs can overcome all of this and lead happy and fulfilling adult lives. The question for Jakob someday would be, would he trade away all of his T&F accomplishments to have a nice and supportive dad? Does he think he’d be the same runner today if he was the product of a healthy home life? Would he even be a runner??
It sounds like you've made up your mind before the trial even started to treat negative portrayals of Gjert as truth and dismiss all the positive ones as "blah". Good thing you're not a juror!
Jakob's testimony comes across to me as manufactured and petty. Refusing to recount any good times he had with his father, and going into an irrelevant rant about Gjert not always letting Elisabeth stay over when they were minors. Jakob said, "He actively tried to sabotage the relationship. He ordered her to go home when she visited, and stood in the way of our relationship." I didn't realize it was a crime to not let your underage son's girlfriend sleep over whenever they wanted.
The most important witness in this trial is going to be Tone. I'm very interested to hear what she says.
it's very likely that she won't say anything as she doesn't have to. As the spouse of the accused she doesn't have to give a statement; additionally ,as a parent of the victim she also has no requirement to be give any statement to the court.
I thought Rojo said Jakob was training in another country when she first went into labor, and he had to fly to Norway to meet her at the hospital.
Jakob took a plane home after getting a call from Elisabeth. He then drove her to the hospital. But there was no emergency -he could have spent the whole day waiting by her bed for the labor (or been there the whole day if it had started), but since she only rested in the bed he chose to train (probably with a cell phone in his pocket). Feel free to correct me if my memory serves me wrong (Jfr “Ingebrigtsen: Born to run”).
Yeah its not as dramatic as it might seem to be at first. I was having a session at a gym while my wife was admitted to the hospital to give birth. (It took two full days before she was in active labor). You are admitted relatively early in Norway, with regulsr checkups as well as constant monitoring so they have a pretty good feel for when the active labor starts.
The most important witness in this trial is going to be Tone. I'm very interested to hear what she says.
it's very likely that she won't say anything as she doesn't have to. As the spouse of the accused she doesn't have to give a statement; additionally ,as a parent of the victim she also has no requirement to be give any statement to the court.
You're right. And I'd understand if she chose not to testify. It must be extremely difficult to be in her position right now.