Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who is the father and former coach of Norway’s two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, was convicted on Monday for assaulting his daughter, and was also handed a suspended prison sentence. Gjert was acquitted by a court of other charges, which also included abusing his son Jakob. Other than Olympic success, Jakob is also a two-time World Championships gold medallist, and has also bagged two silver medals.
The trial, which started in March, caught the attention of Norway. Gjert, who is 59-years-old, was accused of alleged of years-long domestic abuse towards Jakob and his younger sister Ingrid.
The Soer Rogaland District Court delivered the case verdict in writing, and handed conviction to Gjert for only a single incident of assault against his daughter, as confirmed by AP. A 15-day sentence was also handed to him, and he has also been ordered to pay NOK 10,000 ( ₹86,977 approximately) in compensation.
Gjert’s lawyer John Christian Elden told Reuters, “He is relieved and hopes the matter will be resolved quickly.”
Meanwhile, Heidi Reisvang, who was also representing Gjert, told AP that there “was no evidence to show that Gjert Ingebrigtsen created a continuous fear in his children.”
“There are no winners in this case.
“He (Gjert) hopes that one day he will have contact and a relationship with his family again.”
According to reports, Jakob parted ways with his father in February 2022, when he hit Ingrid wih a towel. He told reporters, “Our siblings came together when we returned to Sandnes in February 2022. Everyone was distressed, and we discussed what to do.”
“Ingrid wanted to contact the police and file a report, but we didn’t know what to do or what was best.”
Ingrid, who is now 19-years-old, moved out of the family home to live with elder brother Kristoffer from January 5, 2022, and has been in voluntary foster care since March of that year.
