Things to know as CrossFit Games resume in Texas a day after a competitor died during a swim event

Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — The CrossFit Games resumed Friday, a day after competitor Lazar Dukic died after going underwater and not resurfacing during a swimming event in a Texas lake.

In a post on the social platform X, CrossFit Games officials said that they and the entire CrossFit community were “shattered,” and while their first instinct was to “shutdown,” “isolate” and “mourn,” they decided “the best way to grieve is together.”

After the remainder of Thursday’s events were canceled, competition resumed with a moment of silence and an announcement that this year’s games, which run through Sunday, would be dedicated to Dukic. Many of the athletes who lined up for the ceremony were in tears.

Here are things to know about the tragedy and the CrossFit games:

Who was Lazar Dukic?

Dukic was a 28-year-old competitor from Serbia. The CrossFit Games said in its post on X that in addition to being “one of our sport’s most talented competitors,” he was “a son, a brother, and a friend to practically everyone who knew him.” It called Dukic “fiercely competitive, incurably joyful and uncommonly kind.”

Dukic’s biography on the CrossFit website says he was the third-ranked CrossFit athlete in Serbia and 88th worldwide. He finished ninth in his debut in the games in 2021, eighth the next season and ninth in 2023.

Dukic, who also played water polo, was an athlete ambassador for FITAID, a sports drink brand, said Gijs Spaans, the general manager for FITAID in Europe. Spaans said Dukic was a driven athlete and “just a really, really good dude,” the kind of person who “lights up the room.”

How did Dukic die?

Fort Worth police said officers who were working the event were told a participant was unaccounted for after last being seen in the water and not resurfacing. The fire department was called out at around 8 a.m. to assist, and its dive team recovered Dukic’s body from Marine Creek Lake just after 10 a.m.

The Tarrant County medical examiner has not yet listed Dukic’s cause of death.

Prior to the 800-meter (0.5-mile) swim, participants took part in a 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) run.

Kaitlin Pritchard, a spectator, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that she was by the finish line at the swimming event when she saw Dukic approach. She said he was among swimmers she noticed had changed up their swimming patterns, which she thought could have been because they were tired from the run.

Pritchard saw people she assumed were lifeguards on paddleboards on the lake but didn’t notice any of them jump in to try to rescue anyone, she said.

What safety precautions were in place?

CrossFit CEO Don Faul said in a statement Friday to The Associated Press that safety is “of paramount concern” and officials have “rigorous protocols in place for each event at the CrossFit Games.” He added that the organization has initiated an investigation into Dukic’s death, which will include “an independent third party review.”

The previous day Faul said at a news conference that safety personnel were on site at the swimming event, but he did not provide additional details. CrossFit did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking details on its safety plan.

What is CrossFit?

CrossFit was founded over 20 years ago, starting out in a garage gym in Santa Cruz, California.

It says on its website that it is a fitness program featuring workouts with “constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movements.” CrossFit said Friday that it has over 12,000 affiliated gyms across nearly 150 countries.

CrossFit’s popularity is tied to the bonding atmosphere created by the high-intensity workouts, said Darin White, executive director of the Center for Sports Analytics at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

“It’s very community-based, you’re part of the gym, you’re part of that community and you encourage each other,” White said.

Training activities include everything from weightlifting and gymnastics to running, swimming and boating, White said.

What are the CrossFit Games?

The mission of the games, first held in 2007, is to “find the fittest athletes in the world,” according to the CrossFit website. They change every year, and often the details are not announced until just beforehand. Competitors come from around the world.

The City of Fort Worth said on its website that this year’s games were expected to draw 10,000 people.

White said ESPN’s broadcasting of the CrossFit Games in recent years has helped spread its popularity around the world. He said the games are similar to a decathlon only with a dozen or more separate events, and sometimes athletes don’t know their next event until minutes before it starts.

CrossFit said that over 343,000 participants from around the word competed in this year’s CrossFit Open, the first stage of their competitive season, which ends at the games with the crowning of the champions.

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Miller reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press writer Josh Kelety in Phoenix and AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed.