Jakobs life behind the gold

He looked happy winning that Olympic Gold Medal.

Who tf wouldn’t after all that ???

some of the kids in the family opted out. others embraced it. nobody was forced into it.

but I get what op is saying.

gjertistheword wrote:

Seems kinda ridiculous but I guess some people want to do that? Not my ideal childhood

Which is why you will never be an Olympic gold medalist.

Henrik is not that bad.

He's a 4x European Championship medalist.

And a 3:31:46 1500M PR.

Would he be an American, he would currently be a legend, only surpassed by " Matthew MF Centrowitz " and just now by " Cole MF Hocker ".

Even in cases where kids believe they have chosen to "opt in" to such intense training through their own free will, they often realize later in life that they did not, or that they did it to gain a parent's approval or love. This can have a big impact that is only seen later in life.

It's very difficult to compete at such a high level and be well adjusted, even if it isn't your dad training you.

runnercp wrote:

Who tf wouldn’t after all that ???

all that what??? Miserable childhood?

Why does the OP assume that Jakob was mistreated?

gjertistheword wrote:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSZZC4NoeBO/?utm_medium=copy_link

I mean to be completely real with all of you, is sacrificing your entitling childhood of normalcy for your father to be training you like a lab rat all worth it for a gold medal? I mean I’m not shocked he did what he did. He was trained like a professional since before he hit puberty and even had it better than his other brothers who sacrificed mistakes, error, and injury all for this perfect regime and this one moment for Jakob. Seems like Henrik got screwed over lol. Filip maybe not as much but Jakob was able to get the best training out of all them and trained like a science experiment since adolescence. Seems kinda ridiculous but I guess some people want to do that? Not my ideal childhood

Yes, it is worth it.

Dude never had a normal childhood at all. Never was able to do normal things bc his whole life since birth was around running. Imagine yourself in that spot and how it takes a toll on you

I will always love his (slightly paraphrased) comment about how he did more training as a 4 yr old than anyone else.

At least he won gold. What would his life's meaning be if he did all this and failed? Ooof.

No duh. His entire childhood growing up was based on the entirety of running and only that. He was sorta forced to do this. Imagine being the only one not to do it outta your brothers? You’d have to live with your parents thinking differently of you otherwise. You want their approval in life and you’ll do anything for it. Does he have friends? Buddies? Anyone from school to connect with besides his GF? Did he even go to school?? I swear I’ve never seen him beyond his family, father, GF, or brothers.

In a way, I have sacrificed a childhood and adolescence that I will never get back. We have 200 travel days a year. Then it goes without saying that you lose precious time with people you love, and I can not always do things you could imagine doing.

This was two years ago.

https://www.aftenposten.no/sport/i/4qG7WG/jeg-har-paa-en-maate-ofret-en-barndoms-og-ungdomstid-som-jeg-aldri-faar

gjertistheword wrote:

No duh. His entire childhood growing up was based on the entirety of running and only that. He was sorta forced to do this. Imagine being the only one not to do it outta your brothers? You’d have to live with your parents thinking differently of you otherwise. You want their approval in life and you’ll do anything for it. Does he have friends? Buddies? Anyone from school to connect with besides his GF? Did he even go to school?? I swear I’ve never seen him beyond his family, father, GF, or brothers.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to imagine this scenario. Eldest brother Kristoffer didn't run.

runnercp wrote:

Dude never had a normal childhood at all. Never was able to do normal things bc his whole life since birth was around running. Imagine yourself in that spot and how it takes a toll on you

How do you know? Have you talked to him about this?

Yep Jakob is another youngest child who reaped the benefits of having older siblings that his parents essentially made their initial parenting mistakes on and learned from/made the according adjustments to give Jakob the best opportunity. The oldest siblings are usually in the most difficult position due to aforementioned rookie parenting mistakes but an exception is if the parents have relationship issues (and possible separation/divorce) that the youngest child will suffer most in that case. The relationship issues are not pertinent to the Ingerbrogtesens as the mom and dad are together seemingly happily. Again, Jakob received the prototypical youngest child benefit package and that ultimately led to his olympiv gold medal.

gjertistheword wrote:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSZZC4NoeBO/?utm_medium=copy_link

I mean to be completely real with all of you, is sacrificing your entitling childhood of normalcy for your father to be training you like a lab rat all worth it for a gold medal? I mean I’m not shocked he did what he did. He was trained like a professional since before he hit puberty and even had it better than his other brothers who sacrificed mistakes, error, and injury all for this perfect regime and this one moment for Jakob. Seems like Henrik got screwed over lol. Filip maybe not as much but Jakob was able to get the best training out of all them and trained like a science experiment since adolescence. Seems kinda ridiculous but I guess some people want to do that? Not my ideal childhood

You have seen his girlfriend/fiancee, right? Maybe not an ideal childhood, but pretty kickass young adulthood can make up for that and more. The kid is a rockstar in his country for a sport mostly invisible elsewhere.

If you watched any of their reality tv show you will see the Gjert was reluctant to train Jakob. Jakob was the one pushing to be trained highly at a young age. Also, there are two other brothers that never pursued running. Interestingly I believe Gjert thought the oldest had the most talent.

Henrik and Filip have run 3:31 and 3:30. They're obviously amazing runners themselves. Its just that Jakob has a little more talent then them.

Whats a normal childhood anyway. Playing video games 10 hours a day and eating Cheetos? Do East Africans have normal childhoods when they run 10 miles a day to and from school along with doing farmwork? The point is no-one made this kid do anything. He was born into a perfect opportunity to develop in running. He had an incredible passion and work ethic on top of that. Good for him.

'

Even though I think Gjert is a bit of a gjerk I think he didn't do a bad job here.

His childhood was pretty great, training trips in Spain, South Africa, Flagstaff, live-in girlfriend at maybe 16 or 17, summer training in St. Moritz, and many, many records.