Double Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen described his childhood, characterized by fear and manipulation, when he took the witness position in a Norwegian court on Tuesday to testify to his father and former coach.
Gjert Ingebrigtsen pleaded not guilty to physically abusing two of his seven children, a track athlete and his sister Ingrid. The 59-year-old faces a prison for up to six years, with the trial scheduled to run in Sandnes, southwest Norway until May 16th.
“My upbringing was closely linked to fear. I've known a culture based on fear for a long time. As a teenager, it was a concept I really identified.
“I was in an environment where everything was managed and decided for me,” he was quoted as telling the Sør-Rogaland District Court by Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “There was a huge amount of manipulation.”
On the first day of his trial on Monday, Gjert Ingebrigtsen told the court that he was innocent of the charges against him, Norwegian news agency NTB reported. He is scheduled to testify next week, NTB said.
Jakob Ingebrigzen, 24, told the court about several cases of violence.
Prosecutors allege that Gjert Ingebrigtsen hit Jacob several times after receiving negative reports from the school about his actions when he was eight years old. “I remember being very scary. Now I did something serious wrong. I'm afraid of what will happen,” Jacob told the court about his lead in the case.
Jacob also told the court when he met his wife, Elizabeth Assanson, at age 16, his father tried to stop the relationship and feared that having a relationship would harm his son's sports career. “It felt very difficult for someone like my father to speak that way about Elizabeth, which I care about,” he told the court.
