Tragedy has struck during an elaborate sporting competition in the States after a competitor who vanished during the event is believed to have drowned.
A body was sadly pulled from the Marine Creek Reservoir on Thursday (8 August) morning shortly after the 2024 CrossFit Games had kicked off in Fort Worth, Texas.
According to its organisers, the tournament – which was live streamed – is ‘designed to find the fittest on Earth’.
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The ‘top 40 men and women from around the world’ who had qualified to take part in the physically-demanding sports challenge descended on the city as it began today.
But horrifically, Serbian athlete Lazar Đukić suddenly vanished while completing the swimming portion of ‘Individual Event 1’ and he disappeared in the water while he was just around 100m away from the end of the 800m dash.
Competitors had dived into the Marine Creek Reservoir after completing a 3.5 mile run.
Lazar Đukić reportedly got into trouble in the water and disappeared from view (Instagram/@lazadjukic)
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The alarm was only raised about Đukić’s struggle in the water after his opponents began to get out and the 28-year-old still hadn’t resurfaced.
According to CBS News Texas, spectators claimed to have saw a man sink under the surface at around 8am.
Reports state that police and the fire department then began hunting for Đukić, according to the spokesperson the Fort Worth Police Department (FWPD), Craig Trojacek, while other events were postponed amid the search.
Dive teams and drones then helped officials locate the body, reports say.
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Trojacek added that the victim’s identity was not yet being released out of respect for their family.
At around 10am, CBS claim to have captured footage of emergency responders pulling a body out of the reservoir before placing it into a body bag as the network’s helicopter flew over the water.
Officials have not yet confirmed that this is the 28-year-old athlete.
According to Metro, the crowds were asked to leave the grounds while the search continued, while live streams of the gruelling sporting event were promptly cut.
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A body was then retrieved from the Marine Creek Reservoir (WFAA)
Đukić – who has participated in the CrossFit Games for several years earning him a ranking of 88th worldwide in men’s category – had shared a snap to his Instagram story showing him grinning as he prepared to take part just yesterday.
He had shared a series of posts showing his 47,600 followers how he had been preparing for the competition.
Organisers of the competition have since shared a statement on social media confirming that a competitor had passed away, although Đukić was not named.
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It read: “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 fully cooperating with authorities and doing everything we can to support the family at this time.
“The remainder of today’s events have been suspended. The well-being of competitors is our first priority and we are heartbroken by this tragic event.”
Featured Image Credit: WFAA
Topics: Extreme Sports, News, Sport, US News, World News
