Tributes flow in for 'warrior princess' Kelly Catlin

11.03.2019 19:29

Tributes have flowed in for Kelly Catlin following the news of her death on Friday. The 23-year-old ended her life in her Stanford University residence.

A multi-talented athlete, artist and musician, Catlin began racing as a teenager at the urging of her twin brother Colin. She quickly rose through the ranks, winning the Minnesota state cyclo-cross championships and then landing on the podium in her first national road championships in 2013 in the Junior 15-18 category.

Catlin won the U23 national title in both the road race and time trial in 2014 and 2015, and the Pan American Games time trial in 2015, but it was on the track where she found the most success as part of USA Cycling's team pursuit squad.

Together with Sarah Hammer, Jen Valente, Ruth Winder, and Chloe Dygert, Catlin won the 2016 world championship title and the silver medal in the team pursuit in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. After Hammer's retirement, Kim Geist joined the squad, who continued on to win two more world titles.

Catlin's father Mark called Kelly his "warrior princess" and told the Washington Post that "part of her undoing was her personal code. She gave 110 percent to whatever she was doing."

Kelly had been suffering from a "perfect storm" combination of depression, overtraining and the after-effects of a concussion sustained in a crash last year, he said. She started to show signs of crisis in December.