Category Sports News

Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the double Olympic champion, claimed that his father, Gjert, had “manipulated” and “controlled” him throughout his development on Tuesday in front of a court.

Gjert Ingebrigtsen, 59, is accused of physically and mentally abusing his 24-year-old son Jakob and another of his children in Norway.

Former coach Gjert for his son, who denies the allegations.

According to Norwegian state broadcaster NRK, “my upbringing was very much characterised by fear,” he said in a court hearing in Sandnes Jakob.

“Everything was decided by me,” he said. There was a lot of manipulation.

Jakob, who won 1500m gold at Tokyo 2020 and 5, 000m gold at Paris 2024, gave an in-depth account of a number of alleged abuses at the hearing on Tuesday.

He claimed that he was forced to train two or three times a day as a teenager and that he was a schoolboy who was unable to attend parties.

Jakob also referred to a number of instances in which his father assaulted him.

Jakob was eight years old when he received a negative report about his behavior at school, and it is claimed that Gjert repeatedly struck him.

He added that his father punched Jakob in the face because he was late for a race in 2008, making it eight years old. He claims that his father punched him in the stomach after he fell off a scooter a year later.

He referred to another alleged incident from 2016 at a junior championships where his father threatened him and another one where Gjert was said to have allegedly thrown his video game console out of the window.

Jakob, 24, and his brothers Filip, 31, and Henrik, 34, both Olympic athletes, made public accusations that their father, who coached them until 2022, had been violent in October 2023.

The trio, who are one of seven Ingebrigtsen children, stated at the time that they still feel uneasy and afraid about Gjert, who they claimed was “very aggressive and controlling.”

Gjert claimed via his attorney that his claim was “baseless” and that he had never abused his children.

In April, Gjert was charged with one offence, but due to time constraints, five charges were dropped. The case was later expanded with a new charge.

Jakob won two Olympic medals, two of them, two of which were silver in the 1500m, and one of the 11-time European champions.

Emma Raducanu admits to never being afraid to “do things a little bit differently.”

The British number two’s inclusion in the WTA 1, 000 quarter-final without a full-time coach makes for brand-new feeling.

By defeating American 17th seed Amanda Anisimova on Monday, Raducanu won the Miami Open for the fourth time in a row.

The 22-year-old has won that many matches in one tournament for the first time since the 2021 US Open, when she clinched a fairytale victory as a teenage qualifier.

According to Raducanu, who is ranked 60th in the world, “I’d say I’m a bit of a free spirit, so I don’t need to be told what to do.”

“I believe that when I’m being really authentic, I’m playing at my best,” he said.

Raducanu regularly adheres to what she believes is best for her, whether it be winning a Grand Slam championship as an unknown rookie, working with a carousel of coaches, or changing her schedule to fit her needs.

Although it doesn’t always turn out well, she continues to hold onto her beliefs.

On the eve of this tournament, Vladimir Platenik and I made another decision that was initially unplanned.

However, her move seems to have paid off with her run on the faster courts in Miami, which is a flattering surface for her style.

Raducanu has a freedom and self-assurance that have only improved since her stunning US Open success.

According to Raducanu, “I feel when I’m boxed into a regimented way that I can’t express myself in the same way.”

Mark Petchey, a well-known player in British tennis circles who worked with her as a teenager, has guided her throughout her time in Florida.

Petchey, who previously trained Andy Murray for his salad on the ATP Tour, has been providing coaching advice from Raducanu’s box on the practice courts.

Petchey and Yutaka Nakamura, Raducanu’s long-time ally, have been working together.

What Raducanu refers to as a “different approach” has resulted in shorter, less intense warm-up sessions and shorter periods of enjoyment.

“This week has been a great eye-opener to when I’m happy and expressive and myself,” Raducanu said.

The reasons behind Raducanu’s chopping and changing of coaches have varied, and there is good evidence of this.

After splitting with a fifth coach in two years, Raducanu argued that her “provoking” and “challenging” questions in some way contributed to the high turnover.

The Briton turned to childhood coach Nick Cavaday as a hero when she recovered from wrist and ankle surgeries in 2024.

He provided stability and a reliable sounding board, but his relationship with him abruptly ended in January as a result of his health issues.

Some people are still unsure whether Raducanu even needs a full-time coach despite the fact that her father, Ian Raducanu, hired Platenik.

Rare are instances of players without a coach engaging in long-range competition. Nick Kyrgios, who reached the 2022 Wimbledon final, is one of the recent winners.

The controversial Australian responded to Raducanu’s run by calling coaches “overrated” and never missed an opportunity to be provocative.

Where are all the experts now, people, awfully quiet, saying Raducanu is winning? posted on X by Kyrgios.

The company’s representatives describe Petchey as a “familiar face” who is offering “support” when he balances his work as a television commentator with his role in Miami.

However, how long the agreement will last is unclear.

Tim Henman, a former British number one who has advised Raducanu over the years, thinks Petchey’s involvement “makes sense” because he is familiar with “Emma’s game.”

Henman, who will serve as vice-captain at this year’s Laver Cup, said, “It’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts for.”

Emma has stated in a fairly open interview that she finds it difficult to switch coaches.

I began playing tennis professionally at the end of 1992 and finished in 2007. I had three coaches.

Given the number of injuries and issues she has dealt with since winning the US Open, questions about Raducanu’s resilience have been frequently raised.

Additionally, this season was difficult. Before atraumatic stalking incident in Dubai and Cavaday’s exit, her back injury pre-season interrupted her.

Some of the skeptical people were pleasantly surprised by her brutal defeat of world number 10 Emma Navarro in the second round in Miami.

McCartney Kessler and Anisimova, who were both physically hampered, were both swarmed with steel by her.

Raducanu acknowledges that she has lost some of her “competitive spirit” over the past few months and even for a few years.

Whatever she decides to do in Florida, keeping up her level over time is something she has lacked to do so far.

Henman points to Raducanu’s improved durability as a result of her playing more tournaments, despite losing six of her nine matches before the Miami Open.

More than she has in the first three months of the season, Raducanu has competed in seven events this year.

She will re-enter the top 50 for the first time since August 2022 after Miami.

Henman said, “It’s simple to look at the results, but I’d rather look at the course of the tournament,” which is a big, big positive.

Emma Raducanu admits to never being afraid to “do things a little bit differently.”

The British number two’s inclusion in the WTA 1, 000 quarter-final without a full-time coach makes for brand-new feeling.

By defeating American 17th seed Amanda Anisimova on Monday, Raducanu won the Miami Open for the fourth time in a row.

The 22-year-old has won that many matches in one tournament for the first time since the 2021 US Open, when she clinched a fairytale victory as a teenage qualifier.

According to Raducanu, who is ranked 60th in the world, “I’d say I’m a bit of a free spirit, so I don’t need to be told what to do.”

“I believe that when I’m being really authentic, I’m playing at my best,” he said.

Raducanu regularly adheres to what she believes is best for her, whether it be winning a Grand Slam championship as an unknown rookie, working with a carousel of coaches, or changing her schedule to fit her needs.

Although it doesn’t always turn out well, she continues to hold onto her beliefs.

On the eve of this tournament, Vladimir Platenik and I made another decision that was initially unplanned.

However, her move seems to have paid off with her run on the faster courts in Miami, which is a flattering surface for her style.

Raducanu has a freedom and self-assurance that have only improved since her stunning US Open success.

According to Raducanu, “I feel when I’m boxed into a regimented way that I can’t express myself in the same way.”

Mark Petchey, a well-known player in British tennis circles who worked with her as a teenager, has guided her throughout her time in Florida.

Petchey, who previously trained Andy Murray for his salad on the ATP Tour, has been providing coaching advice from Raducanu’s box on the practice courts.

Petchey and Yutaka Nakamura, Raducanu’s long-time ally, have been working together.

What Raducanu refers to as a “different approach” has resulted in shorter, less intense warm-up sessions and shorter periods of enjoyment.

“This week has been a great eye-opener to when I’m happy and expressive and myself,” Raducanu said.

The reasons behind Raducanu’s chopping and changing of coaches have varied, and there is good evidence of this.

After splitting with a fifth coach in two years, Raducanu argued that her “provoking” and “challenging” questions in some way contributed to the high turnover.

The Briton turned to childhood coach Nick Cavaday as a hero when she recovered from wrist and ankle surgeries in 2024.

He provided stability and a reliable sounding board, but his relationship with him abruptly ended in January as a result of his health issues.

Some people are still unsure whether Raducanu even needs a full-time coach despite the fact that her father, Ian Raducanu, hired Platenik.

Rare are instances of players without a coach engaging in long-range competition. Nick Kyrgios, who reached the 2022 Wimbledon final, is one of the recent winners.

The controversial Australian responded to Raducanu’s run by calling coaches “overrated” and never missed an opportunity to be provocative.

Where are all the experts now, people, awfully quiet, saying Raducanu is winning? posted on X by Kyrgios.

The company’s representatives describe Petchey as a “familiar face” who is offering “support” when he balances his work as a television commentator with his role in Miami.

However, how long the agreement will last is unclear.

Tim Henman, a former British number one who has advised Raducanu over the years, thinks Petchey’s involvement “makes sense” because he is familiar with “Emma’s game.”

Henman, who will serve as vice-captain at this year’s Laver Cup, said, “It’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts for.”

Emma has stated in a fairly open interview that she finds it difficult to switch coaches.

I began playing tennis professionally at the end of 1992 and finished in 2007. I had three coaches.

Given the number of injuries and issues she has dealt with since winning the US Open, questions about Raducanu’s resilience have been frequently raised.

Additionally, this season was difficult. Before atraumatic stalking incident in Dubai and Cavaday’s exit, her back injury pre-season interrupted her.

Some of the skeptical people were pleasantly surprised by her brutal defeat of world number 10 Emma Navarro in the second round in Miami.

McCartney Kessler and Anisimova, who were both physically hampered, were both swarmed with steel by her.

Raducanu acknowledges that she has lost some of her “competitive spirit” over the past few months and even for a few years.

Whatever she decides to do in Florida, keeping up her level over time is something she has lacked to do so far.

Henman points to Raducanu’s improved durability as a result of her playing more tournaments, despite losing six of her nine matches before the Miami Open.

More than she has in the first three months of the season, Raducanu has competed in seven events this year.

She will re-enter the top 50 for the first time since August 2022 after Miami.

Henman said, “It’s simple to look at the results, but I’d rather look at the course of the tournament,” which is a big, big positive.

Oscar Piastri converted pole position to win the Chinese Grand Prix, as McLaren made it two wins from two races at the start of the season.

Lando Norris finished second to make it a McLaren one-two, with George Russell’s Mercedes completing the top three.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton won the sprint race on Saturday but he and team-mate Charles Leclerc were both disqualified from the main grand prix.

How long do you think Red Bull will give Liam Lawson to get up to speed before contemplating a switch? – Jon

It rather looks as if their patience has already run out. Red Bull are to discuss Lawson’s future this week, and there is a strong possibility he will be dropped for the next race in Japan.

If they go through with it, it will be regarded as a quite remarkable decision, which raises serious questions about the management at Red Bull Racing.

To understand why, let’s rewind.

In May last year, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner decided to re-sign Sergio Perez on a two-year contract taking him to the end of 2026.

This was despite the fact that the Mexican was struggling as Max Verstappen’s team-mate, and that the 2024 season looked to be going the same way as the year before – a bright start from Perez, and then an alarming slump in form.

Horner could have brought in Carlos Sainz, who was a free agent following Ferrari’s decision to sign Lewis Hamilton. But he remembered the tension between the Sainz and Verstappen camps when they were team-mates at Toro Rosso in 2015 and decided he did not want go there again.

Re-signing Perez, Horner’s theory went, would give him the confidence to recover his form.

The strategy failed spectacularly. Perez’s performances fell off a cliff, and the team slumped to third in the constructors’ championship despite Verstappen winning a fourth world title by 63 points.

Verstappen only won twice in the final 14 races of the year because the car lost competitiveness and became difficult to drive. Hence Perez’s struggles.

But Horner and Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko decided that Perez had had his day and they needed to make a change.

They paid him off – to the tune of many millions of dollars – and signed Lawson.

They picked the New Zealander over his much more experienced team-mate at the junior Racing Bulls team, Yuki Tsunoda, because they believed he had a mental toughness the Japanese lacked.

Lawson has had a dire start to the season. He qualified 18th at the season-opener in Melbourne, where he crashed out of the race, and last in both the sprint and grand prix in China, failing to make much progress in either event.

But Verstappen is also struggling – at least relatively. He is not hiding his belief that the car is the slowest of the top four teams – indeed he implied pretty strongly in China that he believed it may not be as fast as the Racing Bull.

The Red Bull is nervous on corner entry, has mid-corner understeer and is snappy on exits. And the team don’t seem to know how to fix it.

Verstappen likes a sharp front end, but he doesn’t want the car to behave like this. But he can cope, and get a lap time out of it. Lawson cannot, at least not yet.

Lawson was talking in China as if he already knew the writing was on the wall.

“It’s just (got) a very small window,” he said. “It’s hard, you know – it’s hard to drive, to get it in that window. I’d like to say that with time that’ll come – I just don’t have time to do that. It’s something I need to get on top of.”

If Red Bull drop him after two races, the management will have some serious explaining to do.

If signing him was the right decision in December, why is it the wrong decision now, they will be asked. If Tsunoda is the driver replacing him, the question becomes even starker.

And if instead they choose Frenchman Isack Hadjar, who has impressed as Tsunoda’s rookie team-mate in the first two grands prix, well, that’s surely too early.

Equally, if the first-order problem is the car – as it seems to be – why blame the driver?

Are Ferrari at fault for the double disqualification, or was it just unlucky and out of their control? – Ozan

Formula 1 lives on the edge. To win, teams have to push their cars as close to the limit of the technical regulations as possible – because that is what everyone is doing.

The line between success and failure is so fine. And weight and ride height are two of the key performance differentiators.

One kilogram of extra weight in F1 costs approximately 0.035secs a lap. Multiply that by the 56 laps of the Chinese Grand Prix, for example, and it’s two seconds of race time. Not a lot, but it could be the difference between winning and not, or one place higher or lower.

That’s just to explain why cars are run to the edge. And when you run to the edge, mistakes can happen.

In the case of Ferrari on Sunday, Charles Leclerc’s car was found to be 1kg underweight.

Ferrari ascribed this to the fact that they had switched to a one-stop strategy, so the car finished the race with less rubber on the tyres than had they run the expected two-stop, and that was the difference between being over the minimum weight limit and under.

Of course, other teams also switched to a one-stop, without ending up underweight. But exactly the same thing happened to Mercedes with George Russell in Belgium last year when he was disqualified from victory.

As for Lewis Hamilton, his skid blocks had worn too much. Again, it’s the sort of thing that can happen – indeed, it happened to Hamilton when he was at Mercedes in the 2023 US Grand Prix, and Leclerc in the same race.

Again, it’s about pushing the margins. Generally with these current cars, the lower they can be run, the more downforce they can create, as long as teams can keep the aerodynamics stable.

But run them too low, and they risk wearing the floor excessively – and that’s what happened.

Aside from the McLaren, who has impressed you the most at this very early stage? – SJM

Racing Bulls have had a very strong start to the season. Tsunoda qualified fifth in Australia, and his team-mate Hadjar was seventh on the grid and Tsunoda ninth in China.

The races have gone a bit wrong so far, but the car looks strong – in China, Verstappen was even implying it was better than the Red Bull.

Racing Bulls use a fair few Red Bull parts but since Red Bull have started struggling that is not necessarily the boost it was in theory a year or two ago, when the close relationship between the two teams was causing concern among rivals.

In the cockpit, Hadjar, notwithstanding his crash on the formation lap in Australia, has made a strong first impression.

How was there such a big gap between Lewis Hamilton’s sprint pace and qualifying pace? Or how did the other drivers close the gap in such a short space of time? – Ash

There is a combination of reasons. Ferrari hit the ground running in China and landed on a decent set-up for sprint qualifying in the single practice session before it.

On top of that, Hamilton put in a brilliant performance on a track where he has always excelled to take pole.

But there was an element of underachievement from other teams involved.

The McLaren was the fastest car in China and Oscar Piastri was more comfortable in it than Lando Norris. Both made mistakes in sprint qualifying – so they ended up third and sixth on the grid.

Hamilton converted pole into a lead at the first corner and then used the benefit of free air to maximise his opportunity.

He drove superbly, but he was protected from Piastri for much of the race by Verstappen, who the Australian did not pass until four laps from the end, by which time Hamilton had built a lead too big to overhaul.

The teams can change their set-ups after the sprint and it looks as if, by the time of grand prix qualifying, a more natural order emerged.

As Hamilton put it: “We had a pretty decent car in the sprint, and then we made some changes to try and move forward and improve the car, but it made it quite a bit worse, basically, going into qualifying – and then it was even worse in the race.”

Among those changes seems to have been lifting the car slightly, which Hamilton more or less confirmed after the race: “I don’t know who said we lifted the car, but we made some other changes, mostly, as well as that, but not massively, just small amounts.”

They did not work – team-mate Leclerc was faster than Hamilton in the grand prix even though he had a damaged front wing. And the changes were not enough to stop Hamilton’s car wearing the skid blocks too much. Hence his disqualification.

Why do teams put a board out from the pit wall as the drivers go through; surely all information is passed by the radio or telemetry? – Phil

Pit boards are there to give non-essential information relating to the drivers – primarily laps remaining. The gap to the drivers in front and behind are often also included.

They’re also there as a back-up in case the radio fails.