Team Ingebritsen takeaways

Thanks for starting this thread, OP. You've made some good points. I'm also making my way through the Team Ingebrigtsen series, and I think it gives insight into Jakob and his family that we don't get with many other top athletes. Here are a few of my takeaways.

1. Gjert is so quick to find and excuse that something didn't go well in a race and the boys didn't place higher. Whether it's Henrik's toe, or Filip's injury, or not enough time to acclimate to the weather, there's always a reason. I assume it's confidence in their training, that he thinks the boys are the best and will point out reasons that they stumble. (And we saw Jakob repeat this behavior at World's)

2. After placing 4th and 5th at World's as a teenager, Jakob told the Norwegian press that it was a total tragedy and Team Ingebrigtsen didn't come here to get last place and lose. He said that as a teenager! He'll always be passionate about winning and losing (and that's what makes him so good for the sport). There's a scene when Gjert asks 13 year old Jakob his goal, and he says he wants to be the best in the world.

3. The father-son relationship and the coach-athlete relationship can't coexist. The rift that they have now is foreshadowed through the whole series. The whole family knew that Gjert and the boys seemed to know that these types of conflicts would arise, but showed extreme loyalty and trust during the series.

4. On a personal note, I really enjoyed watching young Jakob become competitive with his brothers and see his humorous side. It gives good context to the Jakob we see today and makes him easy to root for.

YES- I teared up a bit as well seeing Gjert in the corner crying after Jakobs Gold as you knew it wasnt in his nature to do so.

Loved when Henrick is complaining that Cheriyot had just set an olympic record and the final and they immediately cut to Gjert who is asked what will it take for the final and his response was immediate, "threetwentyeight!" He had planned the whole damn thing.

You mentioned Henrik and Filip being good for Jakob. Of course that's true, but I also believe Jakob's presence was bad for Henrik, and possibly Filip. Hubris has been Henrik's downfall as a runner; this is a constant theme in the show: Henrik injured, Henrik rushing back too quickly to join his brothers in workouts and then running too fast in workouts before injuring himself again. Henrik still always managed to pop a good time once a year, but a general lack of fitness from the constant seesawing from injury to healthy kept him from producing when it really mattered.

watched the show a couple years ago, and enjoyed it. always thought gjert came off as a decent person, and is unfairly villified in the present. Flawed, yes. But well meaning and hugely important to all of the success.

might have to go back and re-watch this with the benefit of hindsight.

I agree, I think Gjert comes off as committed to the three boys and the family. He's definitely annoying and over the top at times, but is also so proud of them.

I find his current decision to keep coaching other athletes somewhat confusing and can't see him repairing the relationship with his sons if he continues to coach a rival competitor.

Bear in mind that he was coaching Narve and Per (Svela) a couple of years before the break-up with his sons. He didn't start coaching other athletes after the split.

I would also add that Gjert published a post on Instagram after Jakob's 2 miles WR saying something like "A beautiful morning on the Seine, Paris still remember Jakob's performance here". It Is in Norwegian but if you translate It on Google the result is somewhat like this. He seems he's congratulating or whatever trying to repair father-son relationship but probabily his sons simply don't want to.

I'm still on season 1 but one thing that stood out to me was that Jakob was different in terms of confidence and motivation. At 13 he said he believes he will be faster than Henrik by the time he is 20. That was pretty bold. You could see glimpses of the Jakob that many here call arrogant back then as a teenager.

Yes he was a machine. It becomes even more evident as the seasons of T.I. go on. You Will also notice how cold, fearless and almost emotionless he was since he was a kid.

I would not describe him as cold and almost emotionless. Maybe extremely competitive and laser focused on his goal, but there are plenty of scenes that show him having fun and being goofy with his brothers or Elisabeth. His personality behind the competitiveness definitely shows.

But it is funny to think about Jakob's quote at 13, when he says he thinks he can beat Henrik by age 20. It didn't take that long!

I wish they would professionally translate this show and put it on a streaming platform. It is so much cooler in hindsight knowing the 12 year old kid in Episode 1 ends up becoming an Olympic champion. Not sure how many athletes have ever had this level of documentation throughout their childhood and for it to end as perfectly as it did.

I see no confusion there at all. He's a coach not an athlete so he should keep doing what he loves.

Great post.

But when one comes to think of it; how many father-son relationships are good or great? its not like in the hollywood movies. its real life and sometimes it does not work out, whether its because an absent dad or too present, demanding and forceful like Gjert.

I know its not really important since they have made careers in track now but...how good were they in school? how much education do they have? did they leave school at 16 or 18? did they even go to uni?

1. The family has crazy genetics on the father’s side, scoring >17 in hemoglobin values.

2. They started training after a good system from an early age. Gert used to call Marius Bakken to learn from him and avoid making the same mistakes that Marius did.

3. Jakob and Henrik are the biggest talents in the family (even if they believe that saying that someone has ”talent” is a loser’s mentality). But Henrik hasnt reached his full potential due to recurring injuries. He was first with trying to become a professional runner, so they made a lot of miscalculations with him that Gert didnt do with Jakob.

4. Filip has a lot of allergies and he keeps getting sick/reacting horribly to vaccines/antibiotics. His immune system keeps him from consistently competing at a high level.

5. They have a ”can do/no excuse” mentality. Jakob has mentioned that he never skipped a workout growing up, he always ran the kilometers that Gert told him to run. And Henrik got rid of a toe, when it kept hurting and thereby limiting his running.

6. they do everything they can to run fast. when they do exercises - they always make sure that they do them correctly. And they make sure that they get enough sleep.

They operated on it to remove a piece of bone that was stuck in it, they didn't amputate the toe.

Ingebrigtsen. Ingebrigtsen. Why is this so difficult???

Where and how are yall watching this? is it available in English?