Kristoffer Ingebrigtsen Shares Details of Abuse Allegations Against Father Gjert: “I Felt Like He Was Going To Kill Me”

In a story running today in Norway’s largest paper Aftenposten and in a companion podcast, the oldest Ingebrigtsen brother, Kristoffer, 36, has gone public with specific allegations of abuse against his father Gjert.

The story, which is behind a paywall (you can pay 1 Norwegian krone for a one-month trial), begins with a video montage. In the background, you see a man, revealed to be Kristoffer, lacing up his shoes and as you scroll down you see him running and then it ends with a picture of him staring plaintively into the distance with his hand on his neck. As this occurs, words pop up on to the screen that say (translated from Norwegian):

The eldest Ingebrigtsen brother would never tell his version of what went on in the running family in Sandnes….. Then he changed his mind……. ‘He took a stranglehold on me with both hands’….. Kristoffer Ingebrigtsen on his father: “I felt like he was going to kill me…..”

The story then gets right into the allegations as this is the opening four paragraphs (translated via Norwegian):

One of the first painful childhood memories Kristoffer Ingebrigtsen (36) has is about his little brother:

“Henrik was only two or three years old and had done something wrong. I was six. Gjert stood with his leg on top of his head, and sort of pressed downwards, while Henrik lay on the floor and bounced his legs. I told that in interrogation as well.”

Are you sure you remember it?

“It’s burned. It’s not like at the age of 36 I’m thinking: ‘Oh, now I remember something that happened 30 years ago’. I’ve remembered it every day since. It’s like that with the worst things. You won’t forget them.”

In the story, Kristoffer is asked if he thinks what happened should have been a matter for child welfare services and he doesn’t hesitate to say yes.

“Oh my God, yes. There are many forms of violence. I don’t think I’ve ever had control over my own life before I was almost an adult. People can’t understand what it’s like to grow up in fear of everything,” said Kristoffer, who feels what the brothers have alleged has been trivialized.

“It feels like he (Gjert) has been allowed to set the terms,” said Kristoffer Ingebrigtsen. “But this is not about some runners and a coach who broke up.”

The article makes it clear that Kristoffer grew up with a lot of fear of his father, whom he alleges was often yelling and inappropriately physical with him and his siblings.

In the article, Kristoffer said that at some meals, Gjert would “force-feed [his children] fruit soup and shove the slice of bread into their mouths until they regurgitated. That they could be grabbed by the neck, dragged to their room and called stupid or idiot.”

“He was very good at taking each of us if there was something. To stand alone with a grown man who screams and threatens things right up in your face… It’s very scary,” Kristoffer recalled.

Kristoffer said once when he stopped while he was supposed to be running a half marathon in training, Gjert “punched him in the face.” During another run when Gjert was trying to motivate him to be the best in the world, Kristoffer replied, “I don’t want to be good at all!” and “Then he hit me in a way that pushed me into the roadway. Where cars were driving. I ran on, completely in shock. Then he hit me again.”

Once on May 1 when Kristoffer was either 15 of 16 years of age, he said he wasn’t helping out at home and Gjert exploded:

“You weren’t really allowed to say no. Then Gjert came home and was completely crazy. In the laundry room, he took a stranglehold on me with both hands. I felt that He lifted me up. I screamed at my mother, her name. She said, ‘Not so hard, Gjert.'”

Kristoffer remembers gasping for air.

“I felt like he was going to kill me. With a full stranglehold he walked into the living room and raised me between the sofa and the table that was there. It was probably three or four meters.”

The article also details the breaking point in the family that occurred in the winter of 2022, when Gjert allegedly did something with a towel that left a mark on the face of his daughter Ingrid. Henrik called Kristoffer to tell him about it and Kristoffer decided he needed to confront Gjert, who lives one street over.

“I took my hunting knife in my hand and thought: ‘Should I take it in my pocket? No, it’s too much.” So I went and got my bat. A real baseball bat,” [Kristoffer] says.

With that in hand, he walked towards his parents’ home.

“Then I saw Gjert going in and out of the house. ‘What the fuck have you done?’ I screamed and shoved him all I could in the chest.”

He put the bat in the hallway.

“Gjert denied everything. He said he had not done anything. Then I said: ‘Enough is enough. This is going to have consequences for you.'”

Ingrid went to live with Kristoffer for a time after the incident. Gjert announced he was stepping down as coach of Team Ingebrigtsen in February 2022.

While the specific allegations of abuse concern Gjert, Kristoffer said he feels his mother Tone should have been prosecuted as well.

“Gjert has had control of her as well, but still. She is an adult. You have to expect that adults can intervene,” said Kristoffer. “I thought everyone had a duty to avert it?”

Gjert and Tone Ingebrigtsen were shown the content of the article and given the opportunity to respond. Their lawyers John Christian Elden and Heidi Reisvang noted the police interviewed Kristoffer about some of the same allegations and have investigated and dropped all abuse cases against Gjert involving the Ingebrigtsen siblings except for the ones involving Ingrid and Jakob.

However, there is a 10-year statute of limitations in abuse cases and many of Kristoffer’s allegations predate that period.

“Gjert Ingebrigtsen will appear in court at some point,” wrote Elden and Reisvang. “He denies any criminal conduct towards his children, and expects a fair treatment when he comes before a court. We are surprised that the victims in this case repeatedly used the media as a platform rather than giving the police and prosecuting authority the opportunity to ensure a fair trial for all parties involved.”

In a reaction story in another paper, Stavanger Aftenblad, Espen Skoland, a spokesperson for three professional runners in the Ingebrigtsen family, Jakob, Henrik and Filip, issued the following statement, “Jakob, Filip and Henrik have so far said what they want to say about this case. They have a great understanding that Kristoffer now wants to go public with his story. They were informed of this in advance and fully respect his wish. They do not want to comment on this case beyond that.”

Kristoffer admits near the end of the story that his childhood wasn’t all bad and there have been some positives to come out of his upbringing.

“We are hardened. We can withstand a lot and can withstand most things. If anything positive has come out of this upbringing, it is that he has made us very … What can I say? Robust. Hard.”

How do you feel about your father today?

“Once I had drunk a few beers, I missed the strong father figure he has been at times. He knows a lot and has given me a lot of good advice.”

So why did he go public? “It’s still good that people know,” said Kristoffer Ingebrigtsen. “When Gjert is hyped up as a God in all directions, as he was for a while, he in some ways only gets worse.”

Talk about this story on the LRC messageboard: MB: Eldest brother Kristoffer Ingebrigtsen breaks silence on Gjert