What event was Lazar Dukic competing in when he went missing in the 2024 CrossFit Games?

It has been confirmed that an athlete has died at the 2024 CrossFit Games, hours after Serbian Lazar Dukic went missing in the water in the first event of the 2024 CrossFit Games at Marine Creek Lake, near Fort Worth in Texas. Event organizers, however, have not officially named the competitor that lost his life.

Dukic goes missing in combined running and swimming event

28-year-old Dukic had been among the leaders in a combined running and swimming event with only a short distance remaining, but failed to finish. The competitors were coming towards the end of a 3.5-mile run followed by an 800-meter swim, with a number of social media users posting clips from their live streams showing the Serb struggling in the water around 100 meters or so before the finish line.

Many questioned why the CrossFit Games safety team didn’t intervene, while it was also claimed spectators had been turned away as they attempted to rescue Dukic.

Body pulled from Marine Creek reservoir in Dukic search

In the aftermath of the incident, it was reported by MedStar and CBS News Texas that emergency crews from the Fort Worth Fire Department had responded to a drowning call near the site of the Games at Marine Creek Reservoir, from which they had recovered a body.

After not initially commenting on the incident, the CrossFit Games issued a statement on Thursday afternoon.

In it, they said they were “deeply saddened by the death of a CrossFit Games competitor during the swimming portion of Individual Event 1.” Forth Worth Police have said the name of the competitor “will not be released until the Tarrant County Medical Examiner has the opportunity to speak with the family and verify the athlete’s name and identity”.