Gjert had no background in athletics, but the former logistics manager poured himself into constructing a gruelling high-mileage programme to turn his seven children into a family band of elite middle-distance contenders.
Gjert’s public advice to Jakob after that 1500m gold in Berlin was to celebrate with a glass of warm milk and head straight to bed.
However, according to Jakob, the guidance wasn’t always so wholesome.
In March this year, the Olympic champion stood in a courtroom in his native Norway and claimed he had been subjected to a decade of physical and mental abuse by his father.
The stories were grim.
Jakob said Gjert had threatened to drag him out of a car and beat him to death during one argument.
Jakob said he would routinely be punched around the head, on some occasions until he vomited. He said he was hit when he was late for a race. And again when he got a bad school report.
In another incident, he claimed he was kicked in the stomach after he fell off a push scooter as a nine-year-old.
Gjert denied it all.
He admitted he was a strict parent. “Traditional” and “patriarchal” were his own descriptions of his style.
Gjert was only four when he lost his own father, and he said he lacked any role models when he became a father in his early 20s.
He said he was sometimes angry, often over-protective, but never abusive.
The dispute was shocking. But perhaps not surprising.
In 2019 Gjert and Jakob spoke to BBC Sport about their relationship.
“The boys come to me and say ‘I want to be a European champion’,” Gjert explained.
“I say ‘I want to help you – I can help you – but you have to do everything that I tell you.’
“I stand out from other parents. I am very demanding and it is a kind of contract between me and the boys to help them be the best they can be – but they have to endure me following them every day all year.”
