Athlete Drowns in Texas CrossFit Competition

An athlete competing in a CrossFit competition in Fort Worth, Texas, drowned on Thursday, according to the organization.

The tragedy occurred on the first day of the 2024 CrossFit Games, a four-day event that describes itself as a competition for the "world's top athletes" vying for the winning title of "Fittest on Earth."

Around 8 a.m. local time on Aug. 8, the Fort Worth Fire Department responded to a call at Marine Creek Lake regarding a CrossFit Games participant who went missing in the water, according to statements authorities shared with ABC .

First responders sent out dive teams as well as a drone to look for the swimmer, who was later identified as 28-year-old Lazar Dukic of Serbia. An hour after initiating the search, Dukic was recovered from the water and pronounced dead at the scene. His body was then transferred to the Tarrant County medical examiner.

Dukic had been competing in an individual event that included a 3.5-mile run and 800-meter swim, according to the CrossFit schedule. This was his fourth CrossFit Games and he was competing alongside his brother Luka . In 2021, he placed ninth in his first CrossFit Games, then eighth and ninth again the following two years according to an online record .

All other events scheduled for Thursday were canceled.

Ontario CrossFit athlete Cole Learn told Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA he was watching the event from the sidelines when Dukic went under, disappearing from view.

"I saw him start to kind of scramble. He started doing small turns and he was trying to get his head out of the water," Learn told the station. "It was at that time we started screaming to the lifeguard, like, he needs help, and within seconds he was under and he never came back up."

Learn noted that a lifeguard paddle-boarded to where Dukic went under and then came back.

The swimming portion of the event was being live-streamed on several platforms before abruptly stopping Thursday morning, according to WFAA . Footage of the event is also not available to stream on CrossFit Games' platforms, though a clip of what appears to be the tragedy unfolding has since gone viral on social media with several calling it " unacceptable ," " horrific " and " messed up ."

CrossFit CEO Don Faul addressed the awful accident during a press briefing on Thursday, saying he is "gutted" by the sudden death of Dukic and that the company is cooperating with authorities in the investigation.

"We'll continue to be focused on our community and the family through this tragic set of circumstances," Faul added. "There's a lot of people in the community that are hurting right now, that are really sad, that knew the athlete well, that loved, respected this person. A lot of people are in mourning."

The annual event was slated to continue the rest of the competition beginning Friday morning. "After careful thought and many conversations internally, with athletes, and with Lazar Đukić's family, it's been decided that the CrossFit Games will continue throughout the remainder of the weekend at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas," a message from the organization's PR firm obtained by CBS explained.

Resumption of 2024 CrossFit Games would begin with a special tribute honoring the late athlete at Dickies Arena at 10 a.m. local time.

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