Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a sensation in Europe for his outstanding performances. Celebrated for his third European double in the 1500metres and 5000m, the Norwegian shows unshakable composure and confidence in stating that the Olympic Games will be "a piece of cake" for him, despite the conflict that has been tearing his family apart for months.

In Paris, the 23-year-old Scandinavian will be defending the 1500m title, which he won in Tokyo in 2021, setting an Olympic record in the process. He will also be aiming for a place on the podium in the 5000m, a distance that he won in 2022 and 2023.

"If I don't get injured or get sick, I think it will be a piece of cake," he told the Ignite podcast in early May.

The Sandnes-born athlete, accused by many of being arrogant, does not hide his confidence that he will be one of the stars of Paris 2024. Performances such as his recent performance at the European Championships in Rome have only strengthened that belief.

Ingebrigtsen completed his third consecutive double at the European Athletics Championships on Wednesday, taking home two gold medals in the 1500m and 5000m, just as he did at Berlin 2018 at the age of 17 and at Munich 2022, when he was 21.

The Scandinavian runner completed his third successive continental double, becoming the most decorated male athlete in the history of the European Championships with six gold medals, eleven if you include the Euro Indoor on the winter short track.

Ingebrigtsen experienced pelvic problems in 2022 and more recently issues with his Achilles tendon. But most importantly, the athletics star has to deal with a major family conflict.

Both he and his brothers Henrik and Filip, who were European 1500m champions in 2012 and 2016 respectively, broke up with their coach, their father Gjert, in 2022 and later publicly accused him of mistreatment.

"We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father who used physical violence and threats in his upbringing," they wrote in an article that appeared in the press in October 2023.

These allegations, which their father denied, led the police to launch an investigation that resulted in the father being charged with domestic violence against one of his sons.

"I don't want to be an angry man, I want to be a father," Gjert said. "But if it takes an angry man to help them achieve their dreams, I am ready to be that."

The conflict between father (and former coach) and son is so great that Jakob did not invite his father to his wedding last September. In fact, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, who has stopped coaching his sons, continues to coach another Norwegian athlete, Narve Gilje Nordas, a direct rival of Jakob.

From French tennis player Mary Pierce to golfer Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters, also in tennis, the world of elite sport is littered with examples of athletes whose parents have acted as violent or overly demanding coaches.

According to Ben Carr, from the Institute of Sport Sciences at the University of Lausanne, the confusion of roles makes the concept of violence, which is already sometimes inherent in competitive sport, even more ambiguous. "When the two roles mix, it is very difficult to identify the boundaries," he notes.