The cause of death of CrossFit athlete Lazar Đukić has been labelled as “drowning” by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. It was also tagged as an “accident.”
Lazar Đukić tragically passed away on 8 August during event 1 of the 2024 CrossFit Games during a run + swim event in the Marine Creek Lake, in Fort Worth, Texas. You can check out all the chronological facts that lead up to his untimely death.
Đukić was considered one of the top athletes of his generation having finished 9th and 8th place at the CrossFit Games the past three consecutive years. Given his past as a aquatic polo athlete, some people speculated that Lazar must have had a heart attack while swimming – Sevan Matossian suggested Lazar had a heart attack while climbing the stairs of the Burj Khalifa during an event of the Dubai Championship Fitness in 2022.
But now it’s official. Lazar Đukić did not suffer a heart attack while swimming. His death has been concluded as “drowning,” as already guessed by another panel of specialists.
So… What Now?
That is the biggest and probably most important question. Đukić died 3 months ago and lovers of the Sport and athletes alike are still unsure what is going to happen next from CrossFit HQ.
The day after the tragedy, CrossFit CEO Don Faul released a statement saying a third-party investigation was taking place. A few days after the end of the 2024 CrossFit Games, Don Faul released another statement claiming that CrossFit is “committed to implementing any necessary changes that are determined based on the results of this investigation.”
The PFAA (Professional Fitness Athlete Association) has made 3 demands less than two weeks after the tragic passing of Lazar Đukić during even 1 of the 2024 CrossFit Games. Among those demands is that Dave Castro has to be “removed from his position in the Sport Team.”
Luka Đukić, the brother of Lazar and also a CrossFit athlete who was competing at the time of his death, spoke out against CrossFit HQ saying he was consulted about the Games continuing after his brother’s passing, but Castro told him the decision was “not up to him [Luka] anyway.” Castro confessed he never was in a situation like this before and that he made a mistake.
As of right now, CrossFit has provided little information regarding the third-party investigation and whether it has done anything to prevent another tragedy in the future. Dave Castro is still the director of Sport Team and Don Faul has not released any new statements since August 12.
After the passing of Lazar Đukić and the decision for the 2024 CrossFit Games to continue, a total of 13 individual athletes have officially withdrawn their names from continuing in the competition.
The full list of the athletes who chose not to continue competing at the 2024 CrossFit Games are:
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