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Death that came too soon - Kelly Catlin

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Death that came too soon - Kelly Catlin

Old 03-10-19, 03:29 PM
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fietsbob
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Death that came too soon - Kelly Catlin

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/47518643

Three-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist Kelly Catlin has died aged 23, USA Cycling has confirmed.
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Old 03-10-19, 03:59 PM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/47518643

Three-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist Kelly Catlin has died aged 23, USA Cycling has confirmed.
I saw that on the Velonews site.
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Old 03-10-19, 04:41 PM
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...ns-dies-age-23

Suicide?

It sounds like she had everything going for her, yet also under a mountain of stress.
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Old 03-10-19, 06:36 PM
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Fierce competitor and incredibly bright.

RIP
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Old 03-10-19, 10:29 PM
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She was in grad school and there's a lot of stress/depression/suicide in grad school.
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Old 03-11-19, 12:59 AM
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This is awful. My condolences to her family and friends.



A user who claims to be her sister wrote the following on r*ddit:

I'm her triplet sister. She killed herself in her dorm room. She had a concussion a few months before and it changed her a lot. Wanted to put that out there.
Thank you. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to any of us. My brother and I feel so unbalanced without her.
She had a bad crash and broke her arm and hit her head. Pretty sure it was at the velodrome track cycling. Her other teammates got injured too. Chloe Dygert broke her clavicle then as well.
For some very, very unknown reason, the word r*ddit is a banned word on bike forums (and admins refuse to remove it from the banned words list, even though it's the 3rd most popular website on the entire internet). So, replace the asterisk with an 'e'.

https://www.r*ddit.com/r/news/comments/azlu4g/us_olympic_medalist_kelly_catlin_dies_at_age_23/
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Old 03-11-19, 06:26 AM
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^^^Yes, and her family has spoken in other media outlets about her recent concussion history.

She's not the first bike racer I've known to have a TBI (traumatic brain injury, aka concussion) lead to suicidal depression. Researchers are split as to whether what can result from a TBI is depression, or if some TBIs and depression manifest the same symptoms... but at a certain point that's in the weeds.

Point is... TBIs are no joke, and this is super sad.

A lot of the bike racers in Minnesota - who basically watched this talented young woman grow up are stunned.

And again, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. Someone will always answer - you're not alone.

Folks. If you hit your head, stop racing. Get checked out. Take TBIs really, really seriously. Like a matter of life or death.
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Old 03-11-19, 07:51 AM
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If she did have a history of concussions it wouldn't be the first time a cyclist has suffered from CTE.
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Old 03-11-19, 02:22 PM
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From the Washington Post article:

Two crashes, one in which she broke her arm in October and another in which she sustained a concussion in December, seemed to take away the control, the multitasking, that Catlin had always prized. In January, she attempted suicide for the first time and was clearly a different person to her family. “She was not the Kelly that we knew,” her father said. “She spoke like a robot. We could get her to talk, but we wondered, ‘what has happened to our Kelly?’
She also suffered from headaches and light sensitivity. “She had written this lengthy email [to her family in January] and said her thoughts were racing all the time,” Christine Catlin said. “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 [from suicide].”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...y-catlin-dies/
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Old 03-11-19, 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted by miamijim
If she did have a history of concussions it wouldn't be the first time a cyclist has suffered from CTE.
It's my understanding that there wasn't a history of concussions. Just the one that occured in December.

She changed seemingly immediately and just the next month tried to harm herself.

Any CTE from the crash in December would take much longer to develop. It seems like the theory is that there was some acute change immediately after the concussion.

There was more than the concussion in play, though...

Her father described what happened to his daughter as “a perfect storm” of depression, concussion symptoms, overtraining, “not being able to say no” and a rapid heart rate that kept her from being able to train, which he called “the final straw.”
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Old 03-11-19, 02:44 PM
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There is a lot of discussion about this concussion. I hope they invested in an MRI, perhaps a couple, one early, and one delayed to rule out some kind of intracranial hemorrhage. Although, even if there was pathology, they may have chosen to treat it conservatively with monitoring, and giving it time to resolve.

It sounds like there was some counseling, and a prior suicide attempt. But, inadequate in this case.

I wonder if she should have stopped competitive racing (or taken an extended leave from racing). Although, I can imagine stopping any sport due to injuries could be traumatic in itself.

Do different competitive cycling disciplines carry different risks of serious injury? Road vs Track vs TT vs Tri vs Ironman vs Cross vs ???
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Old 03-11-19, 02:46 PM
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My Peter Mooney owes its existence to my TBI. I knew that when I re-entered the "real" world after a final season in the protected world of bike racing, that the next few years were going to be crazy. The Mooney was conceived of as a tool to maintain my sanity. I went on many crazy rides but it worked.

I was very aware that institutions and death were not far off. To keep them at bay, I smoked pot and rode my bikes. Worked. But I never want to go through the years of 1978-1984 again. I pray that I do not live if I suffer a TBI (or other event of that magnitude) again. I wish Catlin had benefited from the words of my dear friend (who went through a life-threatening injury of her own in HS). She told me a) that the next 7 years were going to be unbelievably hard, b) that friends and family would not understand and be of close to zero support for me and c) that she knew I was going to make it. I went back to those words many times. And I am eternally grateful for them. Some of you have seen me talk here of "the crazy years". Not an exaggeration.

Ben
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Old 03-11-19, 03:23 PM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
I wonder if she should have stopped competitive racing (or taken an extended leave from racing). Although, I can imagine stopping any sport due to injuries could be traumatic in itself.
This came up...

Kelly Catlin ended her VeloNews journal by echoing her father, who had told her she needed to rest — even if that meant quitting cycling or leaving school for a while and taking time off. “Ask for a rest day,” she wrote, “or, if you’re fortunate to be your own taskmaster (er, coach), give yourself a rest day.”
As discussed here in other threads, training like an Olympian 1.5 years out from the games is a full-time job. Being a grad student in Data Science is a full-time job, at a highly competitive top university no less.

Without any insight into her own motivations and drive, that alone is a lot of pressure. That's essentially 2 full-time jobs and such an injury would knock you out of both at the same time.

As her father stated, she needed a break, even before the injury.
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Old 03-11-19, 03:32 PM
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Originally Posted by carleton
“or, if you’re fortunate to be your own taskmaster (er, coach), give yourself a rest day.”
Yet, that may be the root of the problem. I've met college undergraduates that were expected to study 4 days a week, and do sports mornings and evenings and 3 days a weekend. Not much other time. And, of course, pass all the classes and progress in college.

Hopefully the coaches can begin to understand the seriousness of these situations, both physically and mentally.

Help transitioning to reduced stress, and pressure to be #1, and perhaps she would be alive today, and competing tomorrow (or alive without competing).
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Old 03-11-19, 03:46 PM
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Very sad
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Old 03-11-19, 07:37 PM
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Kelly Catlin - Rally UHC cyclist and track champion - concussion then suicide

This is very very sad.

News stories:
https://www.velonews.com/2019/03/new...y-at-23_488197
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/11/70220...lin-dead-at-23
Olympic cyclist took her own life - Star Tribune, 3/11/2019

From the team website:
https://rallyuhccycling.com/news/rem...-kelly-catlin/

Last edited by MinnMan; 03-11-19 at 07:44 PM.
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Old 03-11-19, 09:15 PM
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So very sad.

Prayers for her family, friends and anyone negatively affected by this tragedy.
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Old 03-12-19, 05:08 AM
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Someone with many many talents gone far too soon at the age of 23.

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Old 03-12-19, 06:18 AM
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Left a small memorial for her at the NSC. I only remember seeing her up there once- doing pursuit work.
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Old 03-12-19, 06:52 AM
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Originally Posted by carleton
It's my understanding that there wasn't a history of concussions. Just the one that occured in December.

She changed seemingly immediately and just the next month tried to harm herself.

Any CTE from the crash in December would take much longer to develop. It seems like the theory is that there was some acute change immediately after the concussion.

There was more than the concussion in play, though...
I'm not disagreeing wth you. But, a track cyclist, you can pretty much guarantee her head's been wacked plenty of times.
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Old 03-12-19, 02:16 PM
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Originally Posted by miamijim
I'm not disagreeing wth you. But, a track cyclist, you can pretty much guarantee her head's been wacked plenty of times.
I raced for years and I never had a single wreck. Not even sliding down from riding too slow. This isn't just from infrequent use of the track. There were years when I was on the track with others 3-5 days/week training and racing.

There are several others who share similar experiences. Wrecking is not common at all.
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Old 03-12-19, 02:28 PM
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Originally Posted by carleton
I raced for years and I never had a single wreck. Not even sliding down from riding too slow. This isn't just from infrequent use of the track. There were years when I was on the track with others 3-5 days/week training and racing.

There are several others who share similar experiences. Wrecking is not common at all.
Thanks,

There are obviously some spectacular crash videos, but I had assumed they were rare.

One doesn't always bump one's head hard in a crash either.
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Old 03-12-19, 04:03 PM
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RIP. Very sad especially when so young!

My one big off on the track during frequent racing ( full somersault at 55km/hr hitting a crashed rider in front) resulting in a broken collarbone ended with only the lightest scuff on my helmet.
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Old 03-13-19, 09:05 AM
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This article gives a good overview and background of the tragedy. It does look like there was a sudden shift after a head injury.

Originally Posted by carleton
I raced for years and I never had a single wreck. Not even sliding down from riding too slow. This isn't just from infrequent use of the track. There were years when I was on the track with others 3-5 days/week training and racing.

There are several others who share similar experiences. Wrecking is not common at all.
Agreed. I wacked my helmet a lot more road biking or mountain biking (but never in 10 years of track). In my experience, track biking is fairly disciplined and very consistent. A road or mountain bike ride contains a lot more surprises (and in my experience more accidents).

The article above implies that the head injury came from a road ride on January 5, when Kelly crashed during a Rally team training ride in Malibu, California.
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Old 03-13-19, 11:30 AM
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another thread already running in Track racing forum
https://www.bikeforums.net/track-cyc...-too-soon.html
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