I didn’t know Lazar Đukić. I never met him.
But this week, I cried for him. And I am mourning the loss.
On the morning of Thursday, August 8, the life of 28-year-old CrossFit athlete Lazar Đukić was cut tragically short as he died during the swim portion of the first event of the 2024 CrossFit Games in Marine Creek Lake in Fort Worth, TX.
Đukić was a son, brother, friend, partner, and more, but most people reading this know him because of his incredible success in our sport.
Đukić burst onto the scene in 2017, competing in his first CrossFit Open, where he finished as the Fittest Man in Serbia, his home country.
- He participated in the CrossFit Open every year since, first qualifying for the Games in 2019, the year all national champions were invited. He chose not to make the trip to Madison that year.
Following the 2020 COVID-affected season, Đukić again qualified in 2021, where he finished ninth. He has two career CrossFit Games event wins and eight top-five finishes.
Finding CrossFit
Đukić was from Novi Sad, Serbia, the second-largest city in the country behind Belgrade, and grew up in nearby Temerin.
A fellow countryman introduced him to CrossFit while he was abroad in the United States and convinced him to take a break from bodybuilding and try a workout.
That workout was Murph.
Đukić was hooked and immediately wanted to compete.
The former water polo player started swimming when he was 7 years old after breaking his arm, and a doctor told him that it was the fastest way to recover.
In his athlete interview with Dave Castro this year, Đukić explained why he chose not to compete in the 2019 Games.
- Đukić: “I wanted to show up at my first Games and make a statement, and I knew back then I would just spend the money on the trip.”
True to his word, when Đukić showed up to his first CrossFit Games in 2021 in Madison, he took second in the first event and is among only nine men to start his career with three consecutive top-10 CrossFit Games finishes.
- Đukić was part of the burgeoning European contingent of CrossFit athletes who have been integral in the explosion of the sport outside of North America.
He won his Semifinal the last three years and was second in 2021. Many people had him picked as a possible podium finisher in 2024.
Lazar and Luka
Đukić made the trip to Texas with his younger brother Luka, who had qualified for his second CrossFit Games. Luka was fifth at the Europe Semifinal by French Throwdown.
CrossFit athletes are unique. It’s often said that we are the only sport that cheers the loudest for the last person to finish.
We are a community that finds the same joy in the success of our fellow competitors as we do in our own.
Lazar found more joy.
After winning the Europe Semifinal this year and earning another ticket to the CrossFit Games, he didn’t speak about his own accomplishments in his post-win interview.
He beamed about his brother, Luka.
- Đukić: “To be honest, this doesn’t mean as much as my brother qualifying and us going back together. To me, that’s the biggest impression of this weekend — us going back together, us preparing for the Games together.”
Lazar Đukić epitomized the sport of CrossFit.
He was a fierce competitor who always had a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eye.
A Community Grieves Together
On the CrossFit Games broadcast, commentator and Games legend Annie Sakamoto mentioned that a Chaplain spoke to athletes and staff on Thursday afternoon.
- “With community, joy is doubled, and with community, grief is divided,” he said.
There is no right or wrong way to deal with grief.
Many athletes took the first minute of the day’s first event on Friday to honor Đukić. Some withdrew entirely from the competition. Some used the grief to push themselves in their workouts.
There is just grief. There is just moving on.
But community helps.
That is the best part of CrossFit — the community.
We look to each other for guidance on how to act, what to do, and how to feel. Perhaps this weekend can give us some small ounce of comfort — seeing these athletes come together and attempt to process on this international stage, an act that they didn’t sign up for when they qualified for the weekend.
We do what we need to do to process. And while we watch others do it as we attempt to do it ourselves, we must have grace.
Grace for others and grace for ourselves.
Remember and celebrate Đukić for the incredible athlete he was, but more for the human he was.
He was kind. Be kind.
The sport was better for having Đukić be a part of it.
We all knew Lazar Đukić.
Featured image: @bownmedia / Instagram
