Kelly Catlin Helps Power United States to Track Gold

Rally Cycling’s Kelly Catlin and Team USA women’s pursuit squad take victory at World Track Cycling Championships

Riding for the United States, Minnesota native Kelly Catlin helped Team USA successfully defend its gold medal in the Women’s Team Pursuit final Thursday at the 2017 UCI Track World Championships in Hong Kong. Team USA stopped the clock in a time of 4:19.413 with Australia taking second at 4:19.830 and New Zealand rounding out the podium with bronze.

World Champions: Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Valente, Kelly Catlin and Kim Geist

“This title was unexpected for us,” said Catlin. “We didn't have the team assembled until two days before the race, and due to school conflicts, our pre-Worlds training camp did not include the whole squad. We were improvising! We made the best of our circumstances, were flexible and communicative both in and out of the race, and we managed to pull it together.”

After setting the fastest qualifying time on Wednesday, Team USA lined up against Australia in the championship round. With gold on the line, Catlin, Chloe Dygert, Kim Geist and Jennifer Valente powered off the line to a one second lead in the first kilometer. However, Australia battled back to take the lead at the 2500-meter mark. From there, the lead changed three more times. At the start of the bell lap, Australia led by 0.412 seconds, but Team USA upped the pace, and the team crossed the line 0.417 ahead of Australia.

Kelly Catlin leads the charge in the gold medal round

In addition to racing on the road for Rally Cycling and pursuing a dual major in Mathematics and Chinese at the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering, Catlin is an integral part of the United States track program. Racing on the track for the first time at the 2015 Pan American Games, she stormed to silver in the team pursuit and won the individual time trial on the road. A full schedule of World Cups during the 2015-2016 track season culminated in the 2016 World Championships and a gold medal in the team pursuit. With rainbow stripes in hand, Catlin set her sights on the Olympic Games in Rio where she claimed a silver medal in the team pursuit. She capped her 2016 track program with gold in the individual pursuit at the Pan Am Championships.

Catlin will return to road racing for Rally Cycling in May.

2017 World Track Cycling Championships | Women's Team Pursuit Final
1. United States
Kelly Catlin
Chloe Dygert
Kimberly Geist
Jennifer Valente

2. Australia
Amy Cure
Ashlee Ankudinoff
Alexandra Manly
Rebecca Wiasak

3. New Zealand
Racquel Sheath
Rushlee Buchanan
Kirstie James
Jaime Nielsen

Catlin to Speak at 2nd Annual Pedal4Parity
For our Minnesota fans, Kelly Catlin will be speaking at Pedal4Parity on Monday, April 24, 2017. Pedal4Parity is an event celebrating women in sport through the lens of cycling. The aim is to bring together the local and national communities of women who pedal bikes and those who support them.

Date and Time
Mon, April 24, 2017
6:30 PM – 10:00 PM CDT

Location
Lakes & Legends Brewing Company
1368 Lasalle Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403

Get Tickets

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