Athlete drowns during first day of CrossFit Games competition in Texas

An athlete is dead after he drowned during a CrossFit Games 2024 event in Texas.

Lazar Ðukić, 28, went missing during the competition which was being live-streamed on Thursday morning, according to The Barbell Spin, a CrossFit news organization at the site of the games.

CrossFit CEO Don Faul confirmed the death of the athlete, who has not yet been officially identified by Texas authorities, during a news conference.

“CrossFit is deeply saddened by the death of one of our athletes during the swim portion of our event this morning. We’re doing everything in our power during this tragic time to support the family, to support our community,” Faul said.

“We are collaborating, we are working very closely with authorities on the follow-up investigation.”

The remainder of Thursday’s games were canceled following the incident. The competition began on Thursday and is slated to go through Sunday, with most of the events taking place in the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

Authorities responded to the scene of the swimming portion of the competition, located at the Tarrant County College Northwest campus, near Marine Creek Lake around 8am, Fort Worth Fire Department Officer Craig Trojacek said during the news conference.

One of the competition’s participants had gone down in the water and did not come up. The fire department began search and rescue operations upon arriving at the scene. Authorities were able to pull the competitor’s body out of the water later Thursday morning.

A homicide unit was notified and responded to the location of the incident before the athlete’s body was passed over to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Sargeant Leah Wagner with the Fort Worth Police Department said officials would not be releasing the athlete’s name until members of her department have had the opportunity to notify next of kin.

Officials declined to answer questions about whether Ðukić had been the athlete who drowned.

He is considered to be Serbia’s best CrossFit athlete and was recently declared a semifinalist at the 2024 CrossFit Games Europe.

The CrossFit games first started in California in 2007.