Olympic track cyclist Kelly Catlin, who helped the U.S. women's pursuit team win the silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, died Friday at her home in California. She was 23.
USA Cycling chief executive Rob DeMartini said in a statement Sunday that "the entire cycling community is mourning this immense loss. We are offering continuous support to Kelly's teammates, coaches and staff. We also encourage all those who knew Kelly to support each other through the grieving."
"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," the statement said.
Catlin's father told cycling magazine VeloNews she took her life.
Catlin was born and raised near Minneapolis, Minnesota, and rose to prominence on the track as a member of the U.S. national team.
Her sister Christine, wrote in an email to the Washington Post that Catlin was “a really special person — kind, funny, empathetic, and talented at literally everything she did. She just felt like she couldn’t say no to everything that was asked of her and this was her only escape.” Catlin was one in a set of triplets.
She also raced on the road for the Rally UHC Pro Cycling Team, and she was pursuing a graduate degree in computational mathematics at Stanford.
After several bike crashes late last year, the Post reports that Catlin suffered a broken arm and a concussion.
“She had really bad headaches and was sensitive to light. Then she tried to commit suicide in January the same way. She had written this lengthy email {to her family} and said her thoughts were racing all the time. She was suicidal, her thinking was really dark, and she had taken to nihilism. We called police the moment we got the email and they got there in time to save her that time," her sister Christine told the Post.
(CBS News contributed to this story.)