U.S. Olympic cycling medalist Kelly Catlin has died by suicide at 23, her family says

[TexasTowelie]

Kelly Catlin, a member of the U.S. women’s pursuit team that won a silver medal during the 2016 Olympic Games, died Thursday night at age 23. Her death left her father describing “unbelievable” pain and her sister saying, “I want the world to know there was a human being underneath that hard shell.”

Ms. Catlin died in her on-campus residence at Stanford University; her family members said she died by 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. “There isn’t a second in which we wouldn’t freely give our lives in exchange for hers. The hurt is unbelievable.”

Ms. Catlin was one in a set of triplets; her sister, Christine, wrote in an email to The Washington Post that Ms. 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.”

A graduate student at Stanford, Ms. Catlin was pursuing a degree in computational and mathematical engineering while training for track cycling as a member of the national team and racing as a professional road cyclist. She also excelled at the violin and as an artist.

Read more: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2019/03/10/Kelly-Catlin-US-Olympic-cyclist-died-23-silver-medal-pursuit-team-2016/stories/201903100231

[Botany]

1. My God what an accomplished person

Ms. Catlin, an Arden Hills, Minnesota, native who had earned undergraduate degrees in biomedical engineering and Chinese from the University of Minnesota, helped the U.S. team win three consecutive world titles in pursuit between 2016 and 2018. She won bronze in the individual pursuit at the track cycling world championships in 2017 and 2018.

A graduate student at Stanford, Ms. Catlin was pursuing a degree in computational and mathematical engineering while training for track cycling as a member of the national team and racing as a professional road cyclist. She also excelled at the violin and as an artist.

And she won a silver middle in the 2016 Olympics too.

******

Thoughts are with her family and friends.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. No idea about her case, but accomplished people sometimes have pushed & they don't know why they do

All people are complex and often hard to fathom. Certainly her family and friends have suffered a great loss as she was so young and had so much potential to be a fully actualized human being.

Sometimes young people from childhood have been pushed to excel, pushed so hard that they absorb the pushes and make them their own and push themselves.

Sometimes they get to a point where they don't know why they are pushing so hard and for what. If they have depression, which often asserts itself in teen years, it can spiral out of control as if the bottom has fallen out and they've lost their supports and bearings.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Adding links to the Washington Post and the Stanford Daily

Sports
U.S. Olympic cycling medalist Kelly Catlin dies at 23

By Cindy Boren
Reporter covering sports, with an emphasis on politics and national stories

March 11 at 8:59 AM

Kelly Catlin, a member of the U.S. women’s pursuit team that won a silver medal during the 2016 Olympic Games, died Thursday night, ending her focused, driven life at the age of 23. Her death left her father describing “unbelievable” pain and her sister saying, “I want the world to know there was a human being underneath that hard shell."

Catlin died in her on-campus residence at Stanford University; her family members confirmed that she died by suicide, her second attempt since January. Her father, Mark, called her a “warrior princess” in a phone interview with The Washington Post, saying that “part of her undoing was her personal code. She gave 110 percent to whatever she was doing.”

Catlin was one of a set of triplets; her sister, Christine, wrote in an email that Kelly 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.”

A graduate student at Stanford, Catlin was pursuing a degree in computational and mathematical engineering while training in track cycling as a member of the national team and racing as a professional road cyclist. She also excelled at the violin and as an artist. “Everything she did, she was the best at when we were little kids,” Christine Catlin said in a telephone interview Sunday night. “Sports, violin and she casually picked up cycling. We were the Catlins, so we were this force.”
....

Cindy Boren arrived at The Post in 2000 as an assignment editor in charge of baseball and NFL/Redskins coverage. She switched to full-time writing, focusing on national sports stories and issues, when she founded The Early Lead blog in 2010. Follow https://twitter.com/cindyboren

Grad student found dead in dorm room

by Holden Foreman — March 8, 2019

The deceased student was identified as world-champion cyclist Kelly Catlin following publication of this article. Click here to read The Daily’s updated coverage.

An unnamed graduate student died on Thursday night, the University announced on Friday. The deceased master’s student in Computational and Mathematical Engineering was discovered in their on-campus residence by their roommate.

The cause of death remains unknown, but “there is no indication of foul play,” wrote Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole in an email announcement sent to the student community. She noted that the University is in the process of contacting the student’s family.

“It is wrenching to have to report this news to you, even more so following the deaths of other members of our community who have passed away recently,” Brubaker-Cole wrote. “Our thoughts and hearts are with the family and friends of the student who passed away last night.”

There will be a gathering hosted by the Office of Religious Life at 4 p.m. Friday in the Common Room of CIRCLE on Old Union’s third floor. ... Brubaker-Cole’s email was sent shortly after Provost Persis Drell announced the death at a Town Hall event she held with University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne on Friday. ... Drell’s announcement was followed by a moment of silence.

Support is available for students through Stanford’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at [phone]. The Graduate Life Office is available at [phone], or 24/7 at [phone], pager ID number 25085. The Bridge Peer Counseling Center offers counseling by trained students 24/7 at [phone]. The Faculty and Staff Help Center, located in Kingscote Gardens, offers confidential help for Stanford faculty and staff.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu