Kelly Catlin, an Olympic track cyclist who helped the U.S. women’s pursuit team win a silver medal at the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro, has died at the age of 23.
USA Cycling announced her death in a statement Sunday, saying the community has “suffered a devastating loss.”
“Kelly was more than an athlete to us, and she will always be part of the USA cycling family,” USA Cycling President and CEO Rob DeMartini said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened by Kelly’s passing, and we will all miss her dearly. We hope everyone seeks the support they need through the hard days ahead, and please keep the Catlin family in your thoughts.”
In addition to her Olympic success, Catlin was also a member of teams that won world championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and she competed in road races as a member of the Rally UHC Pro Cycling Team.
VeloNews reported it received a letter from her father, Mark Catlin, stating his daughter committed suicide.
“There isn’t a second in which we wouldn’t freely give our lives in exchange for hers,” he told VeloNews. “The hurt is unbelievable.”
A native of the northern state of Minnesota, Catlin was a graduate student at Stanford University pursuing a degree in computational mathematics.
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