Olympian Kelly Catlin Dead At 23

Kelly Catlin, who helped the United States win the cycling women’s team pursuit silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016, has died, aged 23. The Olympian’s father Mark Catlin confirmed her death occurred Friday night at her residence in California.

“There isn’t a minute that goes by that we don’t think of her and think of the wonderful life she could have lived,” Catlin wrote in his letter to Velo News. “There isn’t a second in which we wouldn’t freely give our lives in exchange for hers. The hurt is unbelievable.”

Mark Catlin also confirmed through his letter to Velo News that his daughter had taken her own life. Apart from the U.S. team, the 23-year-old also raced Rally UHC Pro Cycling Team on the road, while she was pursuing a graduate degree in computational mathematics at Stanford University.

Catlin, an Olympic silver medalist, also won the gold medal with the US women’s team pursuit team on three consecutive occasions at 2016, 2017 and the 2018 world championships. USA Cycling released a statement on Sunday expressing their deep sadness at losing one of their top athletes while also asking everyone to respect the family’s privacy.

“The U.S. cycling community suffered a devastating loss with the passing of Kelly Catlin,” USA Cycling President and Chief Executive Rob DeMartini said in a statement, as quoted on Reuters. “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,” the statement added. “The entire cycling community is mourning this immense loss.”

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