March 12 (UPI) -- The brain of Olympic cyclist Kelly Catlin has been donated to The Boston University-Concussion Legacy Foundation Brain Bank in an attempt to find answers about behavior issues she displayed before her suicide last week.
Catlin's body was found last week in her dorm room at Stanford University. Her family confirmed that the 23-year-old had taken her own life.
Kelly's sister, Christine, reveled that the cyclist had suffered a concussion recently that left a devastating impact on her both from a physical and mental standpoint, and that she showed odd behavior possibly was due to the concussion.
The cyclist broke her arm in October and sustained a concussion on a slick road in December. Two months ago, her sister said, Kelly had tried to take her own life.
An official at the BU-CTE Center said it could take a year of research before findings are released from studying Catlin's brain.
The young athlete won gold medals in the women's team pursuit three straight years from 2016 to 2018 at UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
Concussion issues took the NFL by storm in 2002 after Dr. Bennet Omalu identified chronic traumatic encephalopathy CTE in the brain of former NFL Hall of Fame center Mike Webster.
The NFL moved forward with new concussion guidelines in 2007, and in 2012 donated $30 million to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health to support research in medical advancements including concussions.
Catlin won a silver medal at the Summer Games in Rio De Janiero in 2016.
"The greatest strength you will ever develop is the ability to recognize your own weaknesses and to learn to ask for help when you need it," the cyclist wrote in February.
