Father of Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen charged with abusing 1 of his other children

The father and former coach of Olympic champion runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been charged with abusing one of his other children, police said Monday, escalating an ongoing conflict involving one of Norway's most prominent sporting families.

Ingebrigtsen won the 1,500-metre race at the Tokyo Olympics and has emerged as one of Europe's biggest track-and-field stars after being coached since childhood by his father Gjert Ingebrigtsen. But he and two of his brothers — who are also top-level runners — previously accused their father of using "physical violence and threats as part of our upbringing."

Norwegian police launched an investigation into Gjert Ingebrigtsen after that, and on Monday charged him with having physically and mentally abused another of his younger children. The indictment, which has been seen by The Associated Press, said the alleged abuse took place between 2018 and early 2022 and included threats, coercion and hitting his child in the face with a towel on at least one occasion.

If found guilty, Gjert Ingebrigtsen faces up to six years in prison. No date for a trial has been set.

The head of police in southeastern Norway told The Associated Press that cases involving five other alleged victims had been dismissed "on the basis of the evidence" and in one case because of a statute of limitations.

Gjert Ingebrigtsen's lawyer John Christian Elden said his 58-year-old client "disagrees with the presentation of the events" and "consequently does not admit criminal guilt."

Gjert Ingebrigtsen was named the Norwegian sports coach of the year in 2018 after Jakob, Henrik and Filip all won medals at major events that year. The family had also been the subject of a TV documentary series, "Team Ingebregtsen," that was