Olympic 1500m champion, Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen admitted in October that he and his brothers had been mistreated when they were young. The father, Gjert, was indicted for domestic violence against one of his children. Sport Matin returns to this affair which highlights the phenomenon of parent coaches ready to do anything to make their children champions, sometimes at the cost of violence and humiliation.
The Ingebrigtsen case, involving a Norwegian family of successful athletes, is exposing tensions and accusations of violence and threats from the father, Gjert. The latter was seen as a tough but friendly coach.
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Pierre Morath, former athlete, now coach, sports historian and director, has been following the Ingebrigtsen family for a long time and did not expect these revelations. “What was, it seems, very healthy in this family is that beyond the very dictatorial aspect of the father, the 3 brothers seemed to say “yeah, always talk” and we felt that things were not unhealthy, that there was not a kind of influence from the father over these young men who were already adults… Personally, I did not see this coming at all. thing”.
This case raises important questions about how coaches, who are often also parents, should push their athletes toward excellence while avoiding harming them. The line between pushing for excellence and falling into mistreatment seems difficult to define. Especially in the current context of high-level sport.
“On the one hand, speech has been freed”notes Pierre Morath. “On the other hand, high-level sport and the fantasies it generates, whether at the financial level, whether at the celebrity level, but also what it induces today to be at the highest level, it that is to say, work of an intensity on all levels which is absolutely extreme, much more than it was a few decades ago, means that the border does not move. Sport does more. still potentially fantasizing about parents who want to make their children champions”.
It’s very difficult to have both father/coach roles at the same time
A coach must push his athlete to aim for excellence while avoiding falling into mistreatment. “This border is very difficult to find. I am well placed as a trainer and also as a parent of an athlete since my daughter is a high-level athlete. And besides, I no longer train him directly today because it’s very difficult to have both roles at the same time. It’s almost impossible.” concludes Pierre Morath.
Jérôme Jeannin
