The 2024 CrossFit Games will unfortunately be remembered for the incident that led to the tragic death of one competitor, Lazar Đukić, on the very first event of the competition. The situation has produced tons of speculation from all sides regarding both the death of Lazar and the process of continuing the competition. Well, Luka Đukić, Lazar’s brother, had decided to open up on Instagram regarding the incident and everything surrounding it.
Lazar Đukić drowned during the 800-meter lake swim, which came directly after a 3.5-mile run. His brother, Luka, was involved in the same race, and he expected Lazar to finish the event before him since he was known to have better swimming capabilities. So, when he came out and realized that Lazar was not out of the water, he knew that something was up. However, the remainder of the situation from Luka’s perspective was unknown up until now.
Check out Luka Đukić’s entire statement here:
Luka Đukić’s Statement Regarding Lazar Đukić’s Death
Luka Đukić started his statement with a heartbreaking tribute to his brother, revealing just how much he meant to him. As if the loss was not painful enough for Luka, it came at the most unexpected moment since the 2024 CrossFit Games were supposed to be a joyful experience for both him and Lazar.
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“In Lazar I had everything. He was my brother, my best friend, my idol, fellow competitor, training partner, someone I went to when I didn’t know what to do and someone I ran to when I had good news.
Following the path he created for both of us we grew even closer than I ever imagined we would be as kids. On Thursday 8th of August, I lost all of it, in the most traumatic and tragic way possible. While we were chasing our dream.”
The game plan for Luka and Lazar Đukić was to stick together, with Luka leading the run, and Lazar leading the swim. So, they ended up getting in the water at the same time. With Lazar being a significantly better swimmer, Luka focused on his own race, expecting Lazar to be in the battle for the top spots.
“Knowing how good of a swimmer he is, I knew that there will be no chance of me beating him in this workout, so what we talked about and practiced a bit is me trying to cover for him a little in the run and be the one in front that “breaks the wind”, then once we reach the water he will take over, try to “break the water” for me for as long as I can keep up and then try to finish as high as we can individually.
While entering the water, Lazar missed the entrance, which cost him few seconds, so with me being very close to the lead group in which he was in, we ended up entering the water at the almost same time. That was the last time I saw him.”
Once he finished the 800-meter swim, Luka Đukić asked around to see who won the event. He learned that it was Jelle Hoste, but expected his brother to be close to the top spot as well. However, once he met up with Lazar’s partner, Anja, he saw her upset and scared that something happened to his brother, as he was not out of the water yet.
Luka still remained hopeful, as some athletes got disoriented in the murky lake water and swam in the wrong direction. Still, Luka decided to go to Dave Castro, who told him that Lazar’s timing chip had crossed the finish line and that he had gotten out of the water.
“When he (Dave Castro) said that I had huge relief, went to ice bath, gave an interview and chilled for few minutes before one of the ladies from the CrossFit Games staff came to me and said, “that was a mistake, we are still missing two chip timers.
At that time stream was already taken down, I didn’t have my phone anywhere near me so I didn’t watch any of the footage, I heard that CrossFit Staff was asking all the spectators and media to leave and in next few hours I realised that we are waiting for someone to come and find the body which I later identified through the photo.”
In his initial reaction to Lazar’s death, Luka Đukić stated that the situation was preventable. Well, this time he elaborated on that line, revealing that two very unequipped volunteers were close to Lazar and they did nothing to help him.
What I later saw on the video was that there were no attempts to save Lazar, he was fighting and went down close to two very unequipped volunteers (yes) on the paddleboard who didn’t saw him and very close to the finish line.
After hours at the lake, I reached my hotel, still in my swimwear. 10 minutes into being in my hotel room I received a call saying that Dave Castro wants to talk to me.”
Continuing the 2024 CrossFit Games
Many athletes looked at the continuing of the 2024 CrossFit Games as a controversial decision, to say the least. Well, the feelings of Lazar Đukić’s family definitely had to be one of the priorities, as believed by a significant part of the community. Luka’s statement now reveals how that looked from his perspective.
“Dave entered the room with Nicole Caroll, sat there for some time and said: “we want to continue the Games as a tribute for your brother”.
In a shape I was in mentally at that moment, I said many things, but most important ones were “I dont care, nothing will bring him back” and “I dont think I am thinking clearly so this desicion should not be up to me”.
Dave replied “it’s not up to you anyways”.
Later, decision to continue the Games was presented as ‘the wish of the family’.”
Luka Đukić communicated with Dave Castro once again the morning after, as he had a few requests, mainly for privacy, regarding a tribute for his brother organized by CrossFit. However, his wish was once again neglected, which is why Luka decided not to communicate with anyone from HQ from there on.
“There was one more conversation with Dave Castro and it happened next morning while I was sitting in my room with my long time sponsors and friends Craig and Jas. Knowing that there will be a tribute to Lazar that morning which all of the athletes will attend, I asked Dave cause I know he is overseeing everything, to provide me level of privacy I needed at that time.
I wanted to come to the tribute (which at the time I didn’t know how it will look like) but I didn’t want any media around me, I didn’t want to be around the athletes and I didn’t want to be on the screen.
As my wish was not respected, after that I didn’t have any other conversation with anyone from HQ, I was asked to meet Dave on Saturday night which I rejected and I was asked to attend closing ceremony which I rejected as well.”
Luka Đukić also revealed that he spoke with the medical examiner, who told him that Lazar was extremely fit and that there were no signs of a heart attack, which many people speculated to be the case. Moreover, he revealed that there was no resentment towards the athletes that continued competing, recognizing that the majority of them live off the CrossFit Games and sponsorships.
It is unclear what will come next for Luka Đukić, as he intends to keep his next steps private for some time. However, his statement has revealed a lot of surprising information, as well as the tremendous pain that he is feeling at the moment. He finished the statement by pointing out that his brother, Lazar, loved the sport and was one of the best in the world at it, which is what he should be remembered for.
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