At 23, Olympic Track Cyclist Kelly Catlin Kills Self

Kelly Catlin, a 23-year-old American Olympic cyclist, died at her home in California.

Olympic track cyclist Kelly Catlin died at her home in California.

(Photo: AP)

Kelly Catlin, a 23-year-old American Olympic cyclist, killed herself at her home in California on Thursday, 7 March.

Catlin, who won the silver medal in women's team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, had been pursuing computational and mathematical engineering at Stanford University.

The American track cyclist and professional road cyclist had suffered two major crashes late last year – she broke her arm in October, and had a concussion in December. She had then in January this year attempted to commit suicide, The Washington Post reported.

Kelly’s father Mark confirmed that his daughter had taken her life, and said she had been depressed.

” . . . Everything was open to her, but somehow her thinking was changed and she couldn’t see beyond, I guess, her depression. After her concussion, she started embracing nihilism. Life was meaningless. There was no purpose. This was a person with depression. For her, she could no longer concentrate on her studies or train as hard. She couldn’t fulfil what she felt were her obligations to herself, she couldn’t live up to her own standards. She couldn’t realise that what she needed to do was get away and rest, heal. We were all searching for the magic words, that life was worth living.”

Mark, Kelly Catlin’s Father to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/03/10/us-olympic-cycling-medalist-kelly-catlin-dies/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.4ef970a3edfa"><i>The Washington Post</i></a>

"Kelly was more than an athlete to us, and she will always be part of the USA Cycling family," Rob DeMartini, USA Cycling president and CEO, said in a statement on Sunday night.

"The entire cycling community is mourning this immense loss. We are offering continuous support to Kelly's teammates, coaches and staff."

Kelly had won bronze medals in the individual pursuit at the track cycling world championships in 2017 and 2018.