Jakob Ingebrigtsen Does Not Plan on Losing at the World Championships

“We’re a competitive family, and so, in some ways, showing your feelings might be seen as a weakness,” he said. “Feelings are not going to make you run fast. If you feel too much, then it’s just an obstacle.”

He said his fiancée, Elisabeth Asserson, had been working on getting him to open up more. Henrik, who is married, laughed.

“Sounds familiar,” he said.

A Student of the Sport, and His Brothers

Gjert, of course, was the architect, a self-made coach who pushed his sons to excel. In the final episode of “Team Ingebrigtsen,” he breaks down in tears when Jakob holds off Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, one of his fiercest rivals, to win Olympic gold. Back home in Norway, the rest of the Ingebrigtsens — Gjert’s wife, Tone, and Jakob’s six siblings, including Henrik and Filip — watched the race outside on a big screen with friends and fans.

But throughout the series, there was an undercurrent of tension, too.

“Our father is really anxious,” Jakob said, “and that affects everybody around him. And that quickly evolves to anger towards competitions. Because he’s anxious and he has nerves and he responds by getting irritated and angry about the little stuff.”

Henrik recalled an elite meet in Stockholm a couple of years ago when their father got upset with Jakob for eating too much for lunch on the day of the competition. Jakob reacted by grabbing another plateful of food. Their father stormed away.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/14/sports/jakob-ingebrigtsen-world-championships.html