Track cycling: The three-time track cycling world champion Kelly Catlin is no longer alive. According to her father, the only 23-year-old American committed suicide on Friday evening in her home in California.
Triple world champion and Olympic silver
Kelly Catlin has had great success from a young age. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 she won the team pursuit title at the UCI Track World Championships. At the Olympic Games in Rio she won the silver medal with her American compatriots. In addition, there were numerous successes at World Cups and the Pan-American Championships - also in the individual pursuit or in the individual time trial. She was also under contract with the Rally UHC Pro Cycling road cycling team.
Track cycling, road cycling & studying - it all became too much
Just a few weeks ago she published for the cycling magazine "Bike News" an article. In it, she explained the balancing act she had to manage between her studies at Stanford and her career as a professional athlete. She admitted that the double burden made her life difficult: "The truth is, most of the time I don't get it all together." In retrospect, her words read like a cry for help: "I'm learning that your greatest strength is recognizing your own weaknesses and learning when you need help. This is a lesson I have just begun, slowly and painfully.” Now her father turned to her with a letter "Bike News". In it, he broke the sad news that his daughter committed suicide at her home on Friday morning.
Father, Mark Catlin:
"There's not a minute that we don't think about her and the wonderful life she could have lived. There isn't a second that we wouldn't give our lives for theirs. The pain is incredible.”
Kelly Catlin passes away at age 23 https://t.co/KDxqjm7EFf
— VeloNews (@velonews) March 10, 2019
If you have suicidal thoughts yourself or are concerned about someone else, you can find help at the telephone pastoral care, at Insanely Human eV or during German Depression Aid.