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The Norwegian Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen has told a court that he finds it “embarrassing to be a victim of domestic violence” on the final day of the trial of his father and former coach, Gjert.
Earlier this week, prosecutors called for Gjert to be given a jail sentence of two and a half years for hitting and verbally abusing Jakob, the Olympic 1500m champion in Tokyo and 5000m gold medallist in Paris, and his younger sister Ingrid.
However on a dramatic closing day of the six-week trial, Gjert’s legal team questioned the allegations against him and called for a complete acquittal. Jakob, 24, then took to the stand and told the court that his testimony from earlier in the trial about being kicked, hit, sworn at and living under a culture of fear was accurate.
“It is embarrassing to be a victim of domestic violence,” he said. “I know what I have experienced with the defendant since I was a little boy, and I have had no motives for lying. It is embarrassing to be a victim for our family, and it does not fit into the image you have of yourself and your family,” he added. “We will all carry baggage with us from this trial.”
Earlier on Thursday, Gjert’s defence attorney, Heidi Reisvang, had questioned Jakob’s claim that he had been kicked in the stomach by his own father after falling off his scooter when he was seven.
“He didn’t get any marks or tell anyone about it,” said Reisvang as she summed up the defence’s case. “The first time he talked about it was during police questioning.”
Reisvang said that Jakob had also insisted that there were other people present, but didn’t know who they were. “There is a presumption that no one intervenes when a child falls on a scooter and gets kicked in the stomach” she added.
She did acknowledge, however, that Gjert had called Jakob, “stupid”, “terrorist”, and “a thug” in heated family discussions.
Meanwhile Jakob’s legal counsel, Yvonne Larsen, said the accounts of Jakob and Ingrid, who left the family home aged 15 after claiming that her father had struck her in the face with a wet towel, should be believed.
“Why would Jakob Ingebrigtsen go under questioning and talk about violence, when he is actually a superstar? Because it is true,” she told the court. “And why would the sister move out and talk about what she has experienced?”
The district court judge Arild Dommersnes told the court that he expects to announce a verdict on 16 June.
