Building the perfect athlete

His father did everything to turn Jakob Ingebrigtsen into the perfect athlete – but the cost was enormous

The Olympic champion has trained like a professional from as young as 10 years old. Jack Rathborn tells the Norwegian’s story after an acrimonious split with his father Gjert ahead of his return at Sunday’s Euro Cross

Saturday 07 December 2024 16:01 EST

Josh Kerr shares what Jakob Ingebrigtsen told him before Olympic 1500m race

Jakob Ingebrigtsen grasps a long tube while running on a treadmill and performing a VO2 max fitness test in a laboratory. Nothing unusual about that for one of the world’s greatest runners discovering the outer limits of his potential. Except this was the Norwegian aged just 11, running in excess of 120km (75 miles) per week, during the first season of Team Ingebrigtsen, the reality series surrounding his family which aired from 2016 to 2021. The show includes brothers and fellow professional runners Henrik and Filip, and his father and former coach, Gjert.

It provides extraordinary access to one of the most fascinating experiments in elite sport, one that has popularised a training method and revolutionised middle and long-distance running. Gjert, following the successful careers of Henrik and Filip, devised a model to shape Jakob into the perfect 1,500m runner. His father’s vision has proven controversial, given the strain caused before and during puberty.

“I first thought about [becoming a professional runner] when I was eight years old,” Ingebrigtsen said, having joined his brothers for intense professional workouts at 13 years old. Such intense measures from his father to encourage rapid progress were constant, leading to him becoming the youngest person to ever break four minutes in the mile at 16.

And despite adversity on the track in recent years, with Britons Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr claiming famous scalps at World Championships, Ingebrigtsen has ensured that method, known as double threshold training, has proven a phenomenon, landing the 24-year-old two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo and Paris.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen celebrates winning the 5,000m final at the Paris Olympics (Getty)

Jakob Ingebrigtsen competes in the men’s Under-20 race as a 16-year-old in Chia, Italy in 2016 (Getty)

But while Wightman, Kerr and, earlier this year, American Cole Hocker have chipped away at the fragility of his closing speed, Ingebrigtsen has been coping with far more adversity away from the track.

That is the acrimonious divide inside his family with Gjert stepping away as his coach in 2022, citing medical reasons, and now due to stand trial next year on a host of alarming charges spanning a 10-year period including Jakob’s childhood.

Ingebrigtsen alleges that his father “punched and kicked” him and threatened to “beat him to death”. The athletics coach is also alleged to have called his Olympic champion son a “thug” and a “terrorist”.

Gjert Ingebrigtsen wrote a book called ‘Raising a World Champion’, which came out in 2018 (EPA-EFE)

And now Norwegian newspaper VG has claimed to have seen an indictment revealing that state prosecutors have charged Gjert with beating two of his children while coaching them.

Ingebrigtsen Sr denies all of the allegations and said last year that “the statements are baseless”, adding: “I have never used violence against my children. That I have weaknesses as a father, and have been too much of a coach, is a realisation I have also come to, albeit far too late.”

To make matters even more uncomfortable for Jakob Ingebrigtsen, after separating from his son on the track, Gjert joined forces with Narve Nordas, a Norwegian rival and strong contender on the world scene in his events. Indeed, Nordas was tantalisingly close to snatching a world silver away from Ingebrigtsen in Budapest last year.

Brothers Henrik (left), Jakob and Filip Ingebrigtsen (AFP via Getty)

Nordas has been competing without Gjert inside the stadiums as a result of the ongoing feud, with the brothers seeking the help of the Norwegian athletics federation to ensure they did not cross paths at the Bislett Stadium, home of Norway’s Diamond League event, or the Stade de France at last summer’s Olympics.

“We have grown up with a father who has been very aggressive and controlling and who has used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing,” Jakob, Henrik and Filip wrote in a statement. “We still feel discomfort and fear which has been in us since childhood.

“Somehow we have accepted this. We have lived with it, and in adulthood we have moved on. At least we thought so. In retrospect, we realise that it was naive. But two years ago, the same aggression and physical punishment struck again. It was the drop that made the cup run over.”

Jakob Ingebrigtsen has built a reputation as one of the most popular runners in the sport with his trademark aggressive style. Often leading the pack, he will gradually wind up the pace to leave his opponents in the dust long before the home straight.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen celebrates winning the Under-20 race in Samorin, Slovakia in 2017 at 17 years old (Getty)

Jakob will return to the mud at Euro Cross this weekend (Getty)

And Ingebrigtsen has collected a series of impressive records in recent years, including world records over the 2,000m, 3,000m, two miles and 1,500m indoors, while also coming agonisingly close to one of the world’s most fiendishly difficult world records to break: Hicham El Guerrouj’s 26-year 1,500m world record at 3 minutes 26 seconds. Ingebrigtsen became just the second man ever to break 3 minutes 27 seconds with his personal best of 3 minutes 26.73 seconds.

He even dared to conquer the half marathon, a distance more than 14 times longer than his signature event. But that audacious approach, flying so close to the sun, while gaining him fans, saw him endure a painful limp to the finish line of the Copenhagen half marathon in September after crossing the 10km mark in a Norwegian record of 27 minutes and 27 seconds.

He is back in action at the Euro Cross in Antalya on Sunday, a race he missed due to injury last year, but his compatriot Nordas will not be running. That’s after withdrawing and alleging favouritism over the federation’s decision to select Ingebrigtsen’s brother Filip over Nordas’ training partner Per Svela.

Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse beating Ingebrigtsen in the 2024 Olympic 1,500m final (PA)

It is admirable how Ingebrigtsen perseveres with his gift, given the influence of a figure who he maintains caused so much physical and emotional pain.

And while the essence of running can be seen on the mud in Antalya this weekend, it is by no means an obligation for the world’s best to compete at this event, further amplifying Ingebrigtsen’s admirable dedication to his craft despite the distractions.

After Euro Cross, Ingebrigsten is braced for a pivotal 2025 with the backdrop of a draining trial, which could last eight weeks and involve up to 40 witnesses, according to VG.

Now with Ingebrigsten a father himself, after his daughter Filippa was born in June, Gjert’s role is further scrutinised. Undeniably, he elevated his son to greatness and an already impressive sporting legacy, but the cost and, seemingly, irreparable damage to his family now bring renewed perspective on the big stage in athletics to one of sport’s most unique journeys.