Few sports stories have been more beguiling or eccentric than that of the Ingebrigtsens, the Norwegian running family who from earliest childhood were trained as professional athletes by their father, Gjert. When his sons, Jakob, Filip and Henrik, stormed to Olympic, world and European titles, the reality television cameras were there to capture many of the steps, squabbles and medals along the way. Little wonder that Team Ingebrigtsen became the most popular TV show in Norwegian history.
But on Tuesday a courtroom in Sandnes, in the south-west of the country, heard that the reality inside the family home was far bleaker, with harrowing stories of violence, threats and manipulative behaviour from Gjert towards Jakob, the double Olympic champion, and his younger sister, Ingrid.
