Kelly Catlin's father describes 'perfect storm' that led to cyclist's death
The family of Kelly Catlin have spoken out following the tragic death of the 23-year-old Olympic cyclist last week.
Three-time world champion Catlin was believed to to have taken her own life after what her father described as a ‘perfect storm’ of depression, injuries and determination to succeed at all costs.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Mark Catlin said the 2016 Olympic silver medalist “gave 110% to whatever she was doing” and that “part of her undoing was her personal code.”
As a member of the women’s team pursuit, Catlin won three successive gold medals between 2016 and 2018 at the World Track cycling championships.
Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Catlin was one of triplets with her sister Christine and brother Colin.
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Christine described her sister as a “special person” who “couldn’t say no to everything that was asked of her.”
Catlin was recently involved in two serious crashes, first breaking her arm in October before suffering concussion in December.
Her father revealed she first attempted suicide in January as the effects of the injuries took hold and her personality began to change.
“After her concussion, she started embracing nihilism,” he said. “Life was meaningless”
“She was not the Kelly that we knew, she spoke like a robot. We could get her to talk, but we wondered, ‘what has happened to our Kelly?’,” he added.
Catlin was studying at Stamford University for a graduate degree in engineering alongside her cycling training.
She was found dead at her on campus residence at on March 7.
“There was no purpose. This was a person with depression. For her, she could no longer concentrate on her studies or train as hard.” her father said.
“She couldn’t fulfill what she felt were her obligations to herself, she couldn’t live up to her own standards. She couldn’t realize 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.”
Catlin had been open about how difficult it was to balance her career as an elite-level cyclist with her post-graduate studies.
Last month, in a journal for cycling website VeloNews the triple world champion likened it to ‘juggling knives’.
