Jakobs life behind the gold

146 wrote:

for me ingrid does not look at all happy.she has her one friend and camp training partner but has nearly impossible shoes to fill and will spend a childhood trying to live the impossible.

This is how type a people are. if it is not one thing, it will be another. Of course, the kids who didn't follow in line also feel bad about themselves. It is a weird balance. THey are not a normal family, but they seem close and they do have each other, which is more than many can say.

I think anybody who watches the show will see that Gjert is not some evil person.

It is complicated. But I can say the majority of children on EARTH have a worse life than the Ingebrightsens.

I am not caught up on seasons, so haven't seen things turn sour for Ingrid. It is sad if that is the case. There is a saying about it being lonely at the top.

Soy What? wrote:

You have seen his girlfriend/fiancee, right? Maybe not an ideal childhood, but pretty kickass young adulthood can make up for that and more. The kid is a rockstar in his country for a sport mostly invisible elsewhere.

I'm with this guy -- he'll be fine.

I've watched the show and completely agree with the OP.

Anyone who accomplishes anything huge in life know it comes with sacrifice. The difference with a young kid doing it at such a young age is that they aren't aware of the things they are missing out on in life. Does Jakob even have any friends? He spent so much time in training camps with his brothers, and running in general under the watchful eye of Gjert, that it seems he wouldn't have much of a life outside his family and fiance (wife now?).

Let's subtract all the running from his life. What you are left with is a very sheltered kid who spends all of his free time with his family, did not develop a social circle, and doesn't have any other interests to cultivate more aspects of himself.

Here are things I did growing up Jakob never did:

Learned to skateboard, went skateboarding a ton with friends. Built ramps and rails with my dad, and my friends' parents.

Went downhill skiing and snowboarding with my family every winter, and later on, with friends.

Played various other sports: soccer, basketball, got into weightlifting, etc.

Learned to play piano, guitar. Started and was a member of multiple rock/ska bands. Recorded albums, performed for my school, at shows, festivals, etc.

Went to university and got a STEM degree

Went to a ton of parties with friends, met a lot of people I wouldn't have normally met in life because of it.

I mean sure, I could've not done all that and become amazing at a sport. But I would've ended up a very unidimensional person. I've met these people. You try to have a conversation with them about stuff and they just don't know anything - about books, movies, other sports, business, science, politics, etc. They fall back on elementary understandings for all of it, cause that is their only frame of reference.

So you had a different childhood and experiences. Yet here you are miserable and judging someone else’s life.

The level of deprivation is overblown. Jakob's probably done most of the things you've mentioned and the others are a matter of taste. He's learned a lot about how to train, compete, and excel. He lives in a small city and likely has extended family in the area. His brothers are married and he has a girlfriend. He works out with his brothers and father and he's not suddenly left to himself afterwards. The family reality show did have a scene with the oldest non-running brother working on his motorcycle while the running brothers couldn't ride themselves because of fear of injury, but that's not a big deal.

Normal sucks. If you are doing normal life you are fat, depressed, obsessed with social media and politics, and you're not doing it right.

Runner10287 wrote:

What is a “normal childhood”? Sounds very white privilege and inherently racist.

Why?

Even if there is no such thing as a "normal childhood", there are tough childhoods for people of all skin colors.

wegfq34 wrote:

Runner10287 wrote:

What is a “normal childhood”? Sounds very white privilege and inherently racist.

Why?

Even if there is no such thing as a "normal childhood", there are tough childhoods for people of all skin colors.

Because systemic racism. That’s why.

If you want to see miserable, watch Martin Ingebrigtsen (Jakob's older brother, retired from sports) talk openly about the dysfunction of the family on the show.

I'm sure Jakob is totally happy with what he did. How couldn't he be? But such a competitive family yields harsh nepotism. The kids that abandon the sport are systematically neglected by their parents since Gjert's primary parenting activity is coaching.

That's why saying "it's their choice" to go into running is such garbage. If you grow up in a family where all the rewards handed out revolve around running, do you seriously think those kids have zero pressure to follow suit?

I'm gonna say Jakob didn't really have a choice on whether or not he ran, but that's not really a bad thing, nor is it abnormal. Going as far as his family did to be good at running isn't normal, but it doesn't look like he's doing poorly.

How different is it from a kid having to work at his family's business from age 12 because they have to make ends meet? He's sacrificing plenty of things, the only real difference is he has to do it to help his family. There are tons of kids even in his own country, and other developed countries, where kids live in poor neighborhoods with bad school and one parent. Literally tens of millions of people live that way. I'd bet they'd rather live Jakob's childhood than their own.

And if I had to bet, Jakob probably had at least some social life throughout school. Someone who is the best athlete at school and has a TV show about them is gonna be super popular.

He has a strong connection with his family, a girlfriend, a good paying job, and seems genuinely happy which is far far more than what most people can say at his age.

Pepega IQ wrote:

Childhood is overrated. People just remember fun innocent naive times they have on playground. No lasting friendships into adulthood. Adult life is when you want to peak, especially your 20s. Young fit and healthy with ambition and drive. After your 30s, you will be have money, but be old, ugly, balding, worsening skin, grumpy, pessimistic, and bitter from all the accumulated failures in career, love, and friendship.

- 25 year old enjoying life

You didn't maintain any of your childhood friendships into adulthood? Sad dude.

Runner10287 wrote:

Because systemic racism. That’s why.

This is so hilariously Americentric.

John Scott wrote:

Runner10287 wrote:

Because systemic racism. That’s why.

This is so hilariously Americentric.

+1

I was forced to run - beaten to a pulp if I did not. Father wanted to abandon the family for women and fame and did so. He wanted no responsibility for college so his goal was to obtain very good D1 athletic scholarships for me and my brother. We both did obtain very good scholarships, although with no assistance of any kind and sick single mother at home it was a fool's errand. My situation appears far different from JI's in that he wasn't beaten or abused and neither was his mother in the way I experienced. My father was well known in track circles, and I was always disappointed adults around me never stepped in. LIkely a naive thoughat, especially in the late 70's.

I broadened my horizons in college although I was not prepared to do serious academic work in undergrad and went to grad school to do that. Having regret over not taking undergrad studies seriously is one thing that still gnaws at me, but success in grad school - better late than never. I was very conscious of the excellent points help me break 16 makes and never really got around to having a well rounded life like he mentions - but certainly did try and he makes very good points about what it takes for a great many of us to be happy. I married well to a woman with zero sports background, no doubt as a small way to get away from that portion of my life.

I am ok with my running career and am at peace with it. It was not ideal in any way, but so be it. My brother, a brilliant economist and investor dislikes any thought of running and has very negative views (NCAA finalist several times too). I wish he did not.

Despite being fairly fast I never felt I owned any of my accomplishments. Even winning did not make me feel very good - it was just a way to survive. I did on occasion take great pleasure in the rare long distance runs in the winter (not a high mileage guy) and those were indeed satisfying moments I felt I could own.

I am no victim because I have had tremendous opportunities and have a nice family with kids who are incredibly good students and high character adults. So life is what you make it, no matter what paths we take to express ourselves and be who we want to be. My mother just passed away after a very difficult life and of course I feel like I could never do enough for her. Not sure I am different than a lot of others with a kind and giving mother.

JI's experiences make me nervous. But I think he has a different situation - not just in his fabulous success, but in that however imperfect he appears to have a real relationship with his father. Kudos to him.

But even apart from the sponsorships, Jakob's family is doing okay financially with the father having a good job and the mother owning a salon. Norway is also one of wealthiest nations per capita in the world (much higher than the US) because of all the nationalized oil money. There's no reason for a Norwegian teenager to support his family. Africans may run desperately to improve their lives and their families' but Ingebrigtsen boys don't have to.

None of the usual understandable justifications for steering children to demanding sports regimens apply. The children are fulfilling the father's vision. No non-parent coach could have gotten as much effort out of them and exploited their personalities as much. In the past a story like this might even have been whitewashed and turned into a feel good movie, like The Sound of Music.

please please please tell me this is satire

Millions of kids the same age as Jakob are spending their time getting drunk, doing drugs, chasing d*ck/p*ssy and we call that living?

He's boning his gf since 17 and his parents let them live together in their house. I'd say he's enjoying life!

What's the obsession on letsrun on pulling someone down if choose to train harder at a younger age? The Young Brothers did it...they are perfectly normal.

Most 'normally trained' runners quit running regardless and gain a lot of weight anyway. You need only look at Wejo before and after pics.