Three female athletes decided to withdraw from the 2024 CrossFit Games just before the event “Clean Ladder” took place this Friday afternoon. Jacqueline Dahlstrom (28th overall), Arielle Loewen (26th) and Dani Speegle (35th) are no longer competing for the title of Fittest Woman on Earth.
A total of 13 individual athletes have officially withdrawn their names from continuing in the competition this weekend at Fort Worth, Texas. All of them have left after the tragic death of athlete Lazar Dukic during event 1, a run & swim workout programmed on Thursday morning.
The full list of the athletes who are no longer competing at the 2024 CrossFit Games are:
- Luka Dukic
- Jeff Adler
- Laura Horvath
- Karin Freyova
- Emma Tall
- Elisa Fuliano
- Victoria Campos
- Sam Cournoyer
- Guilherme Malheiros
- Moritz Fiebig
- Jacqueline Dahlstrom
- Dani Speegle
- Arielle Loewen
See below what each of these new athletes who withdrew from competition said about their decision.
Jacqueline Dahlstrom
Right after the passing of Lazar Dukic, Jacqueline Dahlstrom was unsure about continuing the competition. She explained how sorry she was that no one was there to help Lazar when it mattered the most and that was “still unsure how to proceed with the weekend.”
Today, before the second event scheduled for the day, she made up her mind and didn’t show up to compete.
I tried to go on, but it just didn’t sit well with me for so many reasons.
I love competing. This is what we train all year for. But not in this way. Some things are just bigger than yourself.
I decided yesterday that I wanted to at least finish Chad for what the workout represented. I thought doing Chad would feel “good” or “right”, but honestly it did not.
Please respect that we all deal with grief in different ways. There is no right or wrong. We are all suffering in our own way and I have the utmost respect to all my competitors choosing & managing to finish off the weekend.
I still don’t believe that you are gone, Lazar. 💔 This just doesn’t feel real. One final lesson that you taught us all is just how fragile life can be.
Take of yourself and all your loved ones and remember to take nothing for granted, ever.
– J ❤️
Arielle Loewen
Arielle Loewen was one of those competitors who would always take us by surprise with her athleticism and fitness. Today, the surprise was her pulling out of the competition in a single line:
“The show doesn’t always have to go on.”
That was all she said, at this moment. Replying to Jacqueline Dahlstrom, Arielle Loewen also wrote that she “agree with all of this.”
Dani Speegle
Dani Speegle was a force to be reckoned back in 2022, the last time she competed at the Games, with her strength and popularizing the hashtag #GirlsWhoEat, empowering women not to be ashamed of their muscular bodies.
She briefly wrote she was pulling out of competition today without much explanation, but she said a more detailed statement would come at some point.
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings running through my mind and body.
A more detailed statement will follow in the future, but for now, and for the fans specifically, I am announcing my withdrawal from the remainder of the CrossFit Games.
Please continue to donate to Lazar’s GoFundMe that can be found in the link below.
GoFundMe page to donate to Lazar and his family.
GoFundMe Donations for Dukic Family Surpasses 1st Place Prize Purse of the CrossFit Games
