CrossFit Games 2024: Will there be events and competition on day 2 after Lazar Dukic’s death?

The organisers of the 2024 CrossFit Games have announced that the competition will continue, despite the death of an athlete on the opening day of the Games in Texas.

Dukic dies during swim

Lazar Dukic, a 28-year-old Serbian athlete, died while swimming in Fort Worth’s Marine Creek Lake on Thursday, during an event that involved a 3.5-mile run followed by an 800-metre swim.

Emergency services were alerted when Dukic, who had been among the event’s leaders with a short distance remaining in the swimming portion, failed to cross the finish line. A body was later recovered from the water, with the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identifying the victim as Dukic. The cause of death has not been confirmed.

Games will go on, organisers say in statement

The remainder of the events scheduled for Thursday were immediately suspended, but the CrossFit Games’ organisers later confirmed that the Games would resume on Friday.

A statement released late on Thursday paid tribute to “one of our sport’s most talented competitors”, describing Dukic as “fiercely competitive, incurably joyful and uncommonly kind”. Explaining the decision to continue with the 2024 Games, the communiqué said: “The best way to grieve is together.”

“This weekend is dedicated to Lazar Dukic”

“Today is the saddest day in CrossFit history,” the statement reads. “We are shattered by the loss of Lazar Dukic along with the entire CrossFit community.

“Lazar was one of our sport’s most talented competitors, but he was much more than an athlete. He was a son, a brother, and a friend to practically everyone who knew him. Fiercely competitive, incurably joyful and uncommonly kind, Lazar was the sun of any room he was in. The loss of his light is inconceivable.

“The first instinct is to shut down. To isolate. To mourn. But the only cure for grief is to grieve. And the best way to grieve is together. In our community, coming together to do hard things is how we pay tribute. In this spirit, we have decided to move forward with the 2024 CrossFit Games.

“This weekend is dedicated to Lazar Dukic. We will open tomorrow at 10:00 am.”

The 2024 CrossFit Games are due to run until Sunday August 11.