Olympic medallist, 23-year-old American Kelly Catlin passes away
Multiple time track world champion and Rally-UHC rider tragically died by suicide at her residence in California
American Kelly Catlin of Saint Paul Minnesota who was a member of the U.S. team pursuit squad that won silver at the 2016 Rio Games, and won UCI world championships titles in 2018, 2017 and 2016 has passed away at her home in California.
A member of the Rally-UHC road team and a full-time student at Stanford University pursuing a graduate degree in computational mathematics, Catlin was 23-years-old. According to a letter sent to Velonews by her father Mark Catlin, she died by suicide.
The sisterhood of pro cycling is absolutely devastated to hear the news of @kelly_catlin’s death. Suicide claimed this amazing woman, Olympic silver medalist, world champ, Stanford grad student. We’ll never know the weight she carried, but we will carry her in our hearts forever. pic.twitter.com/3slCUPjN26
— Kathryn Bertine ? (@KathrynBertine) March 10, 2019
Apart from her successful track career and educational pursuits, Catlin was a pro road cyclist with Rally-UHC
“Unfortunately, it seems everything piled up and she felt there was no way out, but there is. I can tell you any number of her family members, teammates, and friends would have done anything they could have to help,” wrote Catlin’s cousin Doug Schmidt on Facebook.
Catlin won world championship titles in the team pursuit at the 2016 London, 2017 Apeldoorn and 2018 Hong Kong championships.
“The U.S. cycling community suffered a devastating loss with the passing of Kelly Catlin, USA Cycling National Team member,” read a U.S. cycling statement by CEO Rob DeMartini. “Kelly was more than an athlete to us, and she will always be part of the USA Cycling family.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Catlin family. This is an incredibly difficult time and we want to respect their privacy.”
If you or someone you know is suffering from suicidal thoughts, there are a number of resources available including the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention which can be reached at crisisservicescanada.ca or 1-833-456-4566.
