I met Jochem when I joined Leiden Atletiek for the first time in 2013: tall, lean and quietly spoken. We were training under the coaching of Roelofarendsveen and Leiden Atletiek legend, Jan Kortekaas. I was in my stage of beginner’s progress and for some reason I was performing more strongly than Jochem. I was always puzzled by this. Then, over a period of time, Jochem did start to improve his times and just after a breakthrough in his performance level, he was struck down by