Heartbreaking new details after athlete d!es while taking part in swimming event

A CrossFit athlete died in Texas on Thursday while taking part in the swimming portion of a competition, officials said.  Lazar Đukić, 28, vanished near the end of a livestreamed 800-meter swim at the CrossFit Games in Fort Worth’s Marine Creek Lake around 8 a.m. Thursday, according to Barbell Spin.

Authorities pulled a body out of the lake around 10 a.m. local time. WFAA

First responders pulled a body from the lake about two hours later.  The CrossFit Games confirmed that an athlete had died in a statement on Thursday afternoon.  “CrossFit is deeply saddened by the death of a CrossFit Games competitor during the swimming portion of Individual Event 1 at the 2024 CrossFit Games,” the statement read.

 

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“We are fully cooperating with authorities and doing everything we can to support the family at this time.”  The rest of the day’s events were suspended, Barbell Sports first announced.  Đukić, who was from Serbia, had competed in the CrossFit Games for several years.

                Lazar Đukić, 28, vanished during the 800-meter swim on Thursday morning

He was ranked third in Serbia and 88th in the world in the male category.  The athlete teased his appearance at the Games on his Instagram in the days leading up to the event. Late Wednesday, he encouraged his fans to tune into the individual run swim.  Đukić vanished during the swimming portion of the individual run swim, which started with a 3.5-mile run and was capped off by the 800-meter swim.   Photos and videos shared on the CrossFit Games’ Instagram showed hundreds of athletes warming up before sunrise Thursday.

The Games were canceled for the rest of Thursday. The officials did not confirm if the body pulled from the water was the missing athlete.

Seven firefighter units responded to a possible drowning call at the lakeshore around 8 a.m., the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.   About 10,000 people from across the world are in Fort Worth for the event, which will run through Sunday, the Star-Telegram noted.