Olympic cyclist Kelly Catlin dies at 23

The sister of Kelly Catlin, the three-time cycling world champion who has died at the age of 23, says her sibling suffered a concussion in the months before she killed herself.

Christine Catlin told the Washington Post on Sunday that a series of crashes, in which Kelly broke her arm and suffered a concussion, had had a profound effect on her sister. “She couldn’t train as well as she used to,” Christine Catlin said. “She had really bad headaches and was sensitive to light. Then she tried to commit suicide in January … 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.”