Luka Dukic, brother of deceased athlete Lazar Dukic, has withdrawn from competing at the 2024 CrossFit Games. Although he hasn’t released a public statement about officially dropping out, his points are not being credited at the leaderboard.
During heat 3 of event 2 this Friday morning, Luka Dukic on lane 1 was absent. As expected, after the loss of his brother during event 1, he decided not to compete any longer, joining reining champions Jeff Adler and Laura Horvath.
You can support Lazar’s family with the GoFundMe campaign that has been established.
There is still no official position from Luka Dukic that he actually left the competition, but next to his name on the leaderboard is a DNS, commonly referred to in sports as “did not start.”
On Instagram stories, he broke the silence following his brother’s death.
“You loved the sport that didn’t love you back,” he wrote.
“No tribute will ever give you back to me. This is something that could have been prevented and there is no way of going around it.
However, I have huge respect for every athlete no matter how they decided to deal with this situation. If something, we knew what it takes to be on that floor.
Maybe there will be some time in the future where I will be able to share more, for now, this is everything I will share on this matter.
My brother, you touched more lives than you know and will live forever.”
As of yet, multiple athletes have withdrawn from competing at the 2024 CrossFit Games:
Reigning champion Laura Horvath
How Elite CrossFit Games Athletes Reacted to Lazar Dukic Passing
image sources
- Luka and Lazar Dukic: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.
