JAN VAN BEEK

“She fought her cancer battle with such fortitude and it is simply so terribly sad.”

THE “beloved” Dutch event rider and coach of the national juniors and young riders teams died on 8 July aged 42, following complications from an aneurysm.

Tributes have poured in for Mr van Beek, who had been due to accompany the youth teams to the European Championships in Fontaineblaeu, France, the following week.

Mr van Beek had represented his country at the 2006 World Equestrian Games and three European Championships, as well as leading the young riders to team European silver and individual bronze in 2017.

The Dutch equestrian federation (KNHS) described him as “always positive and enthusiastic for everyone”.

“How beloved Jan was among his pupils and fellow riders is also apparent from the enormous number of reactions that followed his death,” the federation said in a statement. “Jan leaves many stunned behind.”

Mr van Beek got his first pony aged five and, although once he moved on to horses he focused on showjumping, this shifted to eventing, for which he had “enormous passion”.

He also worked “tirelessly” as a trainer, and ran a training yard with his father in Rijsbergen.

“A company he had built up passionately and with pride into a modern, versatile company,” said the federation.

“We commemorate Jan as a tremendously enthusiastic and structured coach who, even as a rider, was still full of ambition.

“The KNHS wishes the family a lot of strength, and strength to give this terrible loss a place.”