The brother of the CrossFit athlete who died while competing on Thursday has insisted his brother’s premature death could have been prevented.
Luka Đukić, Lazar Đukić’s brother, posted on his Instagram story criticizing CrossFit for neglecting its athletes, leading to his brother’s death.
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Lazar, 28, tragically died at the 2024 CrossFit Games in Fort Worth, Texas, while swimming the last 100 meters of an 800-meter swim.
Luka posted a black and white photo of a CrossFit tribute to Lazar to his story on Friday.
“You loved a sport that didn’t love you back,” wrote Luka, another CrossFit competitor.
“No tribute will ever return you to me. This is something that could have been avoided and there is no way to avoid it.
READ MORE ABOUT LAZAR ĐUKIC
Luka went on to pay his respects to all CrossFit athletes.
“However, I have enormous respect for each athlete, regardless of how they decided to deal with this situation. In fact, we know what it takes to be on this floor.
“Maybe there will be some time in the future when I can share more, for now this is all I will share on this topic,” Luka wrote.
He ended his moving tribute with a final sentence about his brother.
“My brother, you have touched more lives than you know and you will live forever.”
The tribute to Luka’s Instagram story comes one day after he posted a black and white photo of him and his brother hugging.
The CrossFit star did not add a caption or allow comments on the photo.
CrossFit shared a statement on Thursday following the athlete’s death.
“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.
“We are cooperating fully with authorities and doing everything we can to support the family at this time.”
What are CrossFit Games?
The CrossFit Games are an intense sporting competition designed to find the “fittest on the planet”.
- The competition began in 2007 in Aromas, California
- Events include track and field, gymnastics, weightlifting, decathlon, distance swimming, obstacle courses, handstand walking, sled pushing, rope climbing and object carrying.
- Each year, athletes must prepare for a variety of events that are not announced in advance
- Athletes must participate in the Open before proceeding to the Games
- Only 40 men, 40 women, 140 masters athletes, 40 teenage athletes, 40 teams and 30 world athletes are invited to participate in the Games.
- Athletes can participate as a team or individually
SICKENER
Lazar died on camera during a live broadcast of the swim event at Marine Creek Lane.
The 28-year-old went missing during the event, which followed a 5.6-kilometre run.
At around 7:35 a.m., Lazar was seen struggling to stay above water and gasping for air.
Within half an hour, the fire department responded to a drowning in the lake.
CrossFit Games drowning timeline
6:58 a.m. – Fort Worth police officers were on scene
7am – Start of the running and swimming event
7:37 am – Swimmer shown struggling to breathe and slowing down on live broadcast
8am – Fire Department received calls reporting drowning
10am – Body removed from the water and live broadcast of the event suspended
12:48 pm – CrossFit shared statement
Teams that arrived at the scene removed Lazar’s body from the water two hours after he first disappeared.
The Tarrant County coroner has not revealed the athlete’s official cause of death.
LAST DAYS
Lazar, who also played water polo, excitedly shared Instagram stories about his upcoming appearance at the CrossFit games.
He wrote in his stories, “Starting at 2pm European time,” with a link to the first event and a photo of him smiling for a camera.
Lazar’s brother Luka also posted a photo of the two preparing for the games just days before Lazar’s death.
“Took the possible route to @crossfitgames Event 1 this morning with the shark @lazadjukic,” Luka wrote in a publish.
“Final preparation is taking place in Forth Worth.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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