As most of you are probably aware of, Gjert Ingebrigtsen and his three runner sons Henrik, Filip and Jakob decided to split in early 2022 due to undisclosed, but family related issues. This means the professional part of their relationship (coach-athlete) ended abruptly, and countless media reports also say the family bond is strained and Gjert is basically estranged from most of
(if not all) the oldest children while his wife (and their mother) is caught between a rock and a hard place.
In the aftermath Gjert has continued coaching the Team Ingebrigtsen members who are not his sons, most prominently Narve Gilje Nordås and Per Svela. At the time of the split these athletes had to make a choice about the road going forward, cause both doors were open at least to some of them. Nordås had a standing invitation to continue training with the brothers, but he chose to stick with Gjert for moral and performance reasons, saying "he'd be nowhere as a runner without Gjert". Since Jakob no longer trained under Gjert, Narve got increased attention and personalization in all facets of training which has helped him tremendously. The main difference lies in setting the intensity for his own level instead of trying to hold Jakob's pace.
New reports from today suggest that this didn't go down to well with the brothers, and in the process of buying their father's shares in their joint running company "Run Fast AS" (originally split evenly between the four) they seem to have reached an understanding about "turf" as well. From what's seen and reported it seems to be something along these lines: "Don't approach us. Keep your athletes away from spaces commonly used by us whenever possible."
So what was reported today? Two things. One extremely important thing, and one you'd expect to hear in a high-school cafeteria.
1) The Norwegian Athletics Federation has stated that Gjert Ingebrigtsen will not receive a coach accreditation for the World Indoor Championship in Glasgow, March 1-3, 2024, and he will not receive an accreditation for the European Championship in Rome, June 7-12, 2024.
2) During an altitude camp in Sierra Nevada in January 2023, Henrik Ingebrigtsen demanded that Narve Gilje Nordås find another table to eat his meal because he wasn't welcome to sit at their table. Nordås lifted his tray and moved and several other athletes moved tables with him in a show of sympathy.
The Norwegian Athletics Federation is a central player in both stories, and here are their explanations:
1) Their reasoning for denying Gjert accreditations is "providing a safe environment for everyone, with emphasis on athletes. Due to the ongoing conflict between Gjert and his sons this is not possible to achieve without the exclusion of Gjert." Members of the media once again asked the Federation directly, "is this a demand from the sons?", to which they refused to reply. The way the Federation portrays it, Gjert's presence would directly and adversely affect athlete performance. So in other words it's clearly a demand from the sons, and the Federation is deflecting all questions with the same vague safety boilerplate.
2) The incident in Sierra Nevada was "handled" with Federation intervention shortly after it happened. What that means and what the outcome was is not clear, but they claim to have streamlined and clarified how they can get along whenever they happen to use the same facilities at the same time. It's important to note that Gjert was not in Sierra Nevada when this happened, only his athletes was. And still the brothers treat Gjert's athletes like a pariah.
So what do the actors involved have to say about both these stories?
Gjert Ingebrigtsen:"I'm very disappointed to learn that I'm not going to be accredited for these Championships. I don't even know how to respond to this decision. I'm not pleased with the way the Federation portrays me as a security risk. These are harsh characterizations, and hard to defend yourself against."
Erlend Slokvik (Director of Sports, NFIF):"Some athletes have expressed concerns about Gjert being present. This is naturally related to the family feud.
I spoke with Gjert and Narve just before the press release went live. Gjert was very disappointed. Narve was calm, but every athlete wants their coach to be there."
Henrik Ingebrigtsen: About Sierra Nevada: "I consider this water under the bridge. The media is at it again making a mountain out of a molehill. I don't want to speculate about who benefits from bringing this up again now, trying to make a big deal out of it."
Narve Gilje Nordås: Narve has not responded to any media inquiries today.
Per Svela (Nordås' training partner & accredited helper in lieu of Gjert): "I don't understand why they're (the Federation) excluding Gjert. He hasn't done anything wrong. It's horrible that Narve gets punished for a family feud between Gjert and his sons which is unrelated to the sport in the first place. It's very unprofessional by the Federation.
It's not right to treat someone as a second grade athlete this way. There's no reason to deny Gjert from going to the Championships. If he was accredited he could easily mind his own business without interfering with Jakob and the rest. It's completely doable."
A couple of my own takeaways:
- The trio of brothers are using Jakob's soft power to force their way. Narve is caught in the crossfire between the brothers and their father, and although Narve wants to build bridges their relationship is actively worsening.
- The Federation is fine with letting Gjert continue coaching. There's apparently no legal, ethical or sporting grounds to stop him from coaching. Either the sons haven't told The Federation the true story, or it's simply not that big of a deal to anyone outside of the family. It seems like there's a lot of ill will and a wish to punish their father for something, with little consideration for other athletes who may be affected by this.
How long is going to continue?
