Update (3:45 p.m. EST): Last year’s CrossFit Games champions, Laura Horvath and Jeff Adler, confirmed that they are withdrawing.
Original story: CrossFit Games athletes are starting to withdraw from the competition after CrossFit HQ decided to continue with the event following the death of fellow athlete Lazar Đukić.
Đukić’s death has shaken the entire CrossFit community, including elite athletes who are still in Fort Worth, TX, to compete. It was unclear if the Games would continue following the incident; however, CrossFit HQ announced late Thursday that it would resume competition on Friday.
Since then, several athletes have taken to social media to announce that they are withdrawing from the 2024 CrossFit Games.
- Kara Frey shared on Instagram that she was “very disappointed with the way the CrossFit Games organization behaved towards the athletes” and would be withdrawing from the event.
- Separately, Elliot Simmonds and veteran Games athlete Jamie Simmonds have decided to withdraw from the rest of the competition. They were on a team with Kristóf Horváth and Mia Hesketh.
- “We have engaged with CrossFit and the alternative paths forward for competition this year did not align with our personal views,” Elliot and Jamie wrote in a co-authored Instagram post.
Laura Horvath, the 2023 CrossFit Games winner, also withdrew from the competition. She was tagged on the Simmonds post.
It’s obviously a very difficult decision for athletes still reeling from Thursday’s horrible events, and some are unsure of what to do about the remainder of the Games.
Jacqueline Dahlstrøm, a returning Games athlete from Norway, initially expressed uncertainty about her weekend plans.
- “Personally I am still unsure how to proceed with the weekend. Mentally and emotionally I am not fit to compete. However, do I best show my respect and honour Lazar and his family by stepping on that competition floor or do I show it my [sic] NOT stepping on the floor? I don’t know,” Dahlstrøm wrote in an Instagram post.
- “Lazar, I miss you. We all miss you.” she continued.
Dahlstrøm later officially withdrew.
Games veteran Brent Fikowski has publicly struggled with the decision to continue competing this weekend but has decided to stay in it after much consideration.
“I’ll continue to compete this weekend at the CrossFit Games,” he wrote. “It’s going to be really hard at times and very strange. I think in a few months I’d regret it if I didn’t see this competition all the way through and fulfill the commitment I’ve made.”
One big thing: At a meeting with members of the press, Director of Sport Dave Castro announced that athletes who choose not to compete this morning will be allowed to return to the competition at any point during the week.
CrossFit Games 2024 Withdrawals
Below is the list of athletes who have chosen to withdraw from the competition. We will update this list if there are any further developments:
Women:
- Laura Horvath
- Karin Freyová
- Victoria Campos
- Emma Tall
- Elisa Fuliano
- Jacqueline Dahlstrøm
- Dani Speegle
- Arielle Loewen
Men:
- Luka Ðukić
- Jeffrey Adler
- Moritz Fiebig
- Gui Malheiros
Teams:
- Walleye Orka
- Jamie Simmonds
- Elliot Simmonds
- Kristóf Horvath
- Mia Hesketh
- C23 CrossFit The Progrm Motion
- Axel Lundgren
- Antonia Falt-Kottulinsky
- Ella Wunger
- Harrison Bell
- CrossFit Community Reacts to Lazar Đukić’s Death
- “Thank You, & I’m Sorry”: CrossFit Director of Sport Dave Castro Speaks on Lazar Đukić’s Death
- “You Loved the Sport That Didn’t Love You Back”: Luka Đukić Comments on Brother Lazar’s Death
Featured image: Dave Shenton
