US Olympic cyclist & 3-time world champ Kelly Catlin ends her own life at age 23

Three-time cycling world champion and Olympic silver medalist Kelly Catlin has been found dead, at the age of 23, at her residence in California and from an alleged suicide.

“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,” her father, Mark Catlin, told VeloNews, confirming that his daughter has taken her own life on Friday. Her brother Colin also confirmed that his “sister Kelly committed suicide.”

The Minnesota-native, who’d helped the US women’s pursuit team to secure a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, will be missed by her teammates, USA Cycling chief executive Rob DeMartini said in a statement, offering condolences to the family.

At the time of her passing, Catlin reportedly had been trying to juggle between her academic pursuits and her sporting career. While competing, she was studying for a graduate degree in computational and mathematical engineering at Stanford University.

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