An athlete died Thursday while swimming in a lake on the first day of competition at the CrossFit Games in Fort Worth, Texas, organizers of the international event said.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office identified the body recovered from Marine Creek Lake as that of Lazar Dukic, 28, of Serbia. No cause of death was given.
“CrossFit is deeply saddened by the death of a CrossFit Games competitor during the swim portion of Individual Event 1 at the 2024 CrossFit Games,” the organization said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating with authorities and doing everything we can to support the family at this time. The remainder of today’s events have been suspended. The well-being of competitors is our first priority and we are heartbroken by this tragic event.”
A Fort Worth Fire Department official said during a news conference that the department was asked to assist police around 8 a.m. because there was “a participant in the water who was down there and had not been seen in some time.” The official said it took the department’s dive team about an hour to find the body.
CrossFit CEO Don Faul and Fort Worth Police Department Sgt. Leah Wagner also spoke at the news conference. Wagner said the victim's name would be withheld at this time out of respect for the family.
“As you know, CrossFit is like a family in a way,” said Faul, whose organization first hosted the CrossFit Games in 2007. “People care so much about each other. There are a lot of people in the community who are hurting right now, who are very sad, who knew the athlete well, who loved and respected them.”
Dukic's Instagram bio states that he was a “4-time CrossFit Games athlete.”
According to his bio on the CrossFit Games 2024 website, he was ranked #1 in CrossFit Serbia every year from 2017-2021 and this year he was ranked #3 in the country, one spot below his brother, 25-year-old Luka Dukic, who is also listed as a 2024 CrossFit Games competitor.
Another 2024 CrossFit Games competitor, Cole Learn, told WFAA-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth that he had only met Dukic once, but that encounter left a lasting impression on him.
“The only thing I remember about him is how kind he was,” Learn said. “He didn’t know who I was, but he took the time to talk to me, about the competition and how he was doing… I’ve always rooted for him just for that moment.”
