Lazar Dukic was a good dude. The 28-year-old athlete from Serbia tragically died at the CrossFit Games in Fort Worth, Texas, last Thursday when he drowned 50 meters from the finish line with two lifeguards on paddle boards in his vicinity. His death has rocked the CrossFit community and led many to ask questions about the safety of the event, which was a 5K run followed by an 800-meter swim in the Texas heat.
But Dukic was more than just a four-time CrossFit Games athlete who finished each time inside the top 10. He was a brother to Luka Dukic, who was competing alongside Lazar at the Games this year for the first time since 2021. He was a fiance to his partner, Anja. Aside from that, he was a man known for always having a smile on his face and an infectious laugh, and someone who personified what it meant to be part of the CrossFit community. When he wasn’t competing, you’d be sure to find him in the live chat of many a CrossFit podcast.
Dukic made an impression on nearly everyone who came in contact with him or watched him from afar. That legacy has prompted athletes, brands, training camps, and content creators to tell stories about Djukic from over the years in the wake of his passing.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, nine-time individual CrossFit games athlete Pat Vellner recalled a story of Dukic asking him to procure him some Reebok running sneakers, a pair of Floatride Energys, so he could win a bonus at the 2021 Games, Dukic’s first year in the competition. Dukic didn’t have a footwear sponsor at the time and No Bull provided free shoes to all Games athletes that year, although they were free to wear whatever brand they wanted.
Lazar Dukic winning an event at the 2021 CrossFit Games. Via CrossFit.
“That was the year Reebok was offering the shoe bounty,” Vellner says in his video, donning a Dukic jersey. “If you won an event wearing their shoes, it was a large bonus.”
The bonus money offered by Reebok per event win was $10,000 that year.
“I was a Reebok athlete at the time. It was the end of Friday and we were packing up in the Coliseum and [Dukic] runs over to me like, ‘Vellner, I need you to get me a pair of shoes,’” he says. “We were doing a run, toes to bar workout the next day, which is a great workout for Lazar. And he says, ‘I’m going to win the first workout tomorrow. And I want to get this bonus.’”
Vellner says he asked Dukic how sure he was that he was going to win and he replied, “I’m pretty sure.” Vellner told Dukic he’d call someone and get him shoes for the next morning. He called his rep at Reebok and got an extra pair of runners.
“I showed up the next day in the warmup area with them,” Vellner says. “I asked him if he wanted to break them in at all, and he said, ‘No, they’ll be good.’ He just laced them up and won the fucking event.”
Vellner says he came in 11th or 12th in the event and Dukic, who won the event, came over and shook Vellner and said, “Thanks for the shoes.”
“He was so pumped, to see his face at the finish line was so funny,” Vellner says. “I was giving him a hard time leading up to it, saying, ‘You better win, buddy. I broke my back to get these shoes for you.’”
Dukic would go on to finish ninth overall that year, with Vellner finishing second.
At the time of Dukic’s passing, both of the athletes were sponsored by footwear and swimming brand Tyr. The brand memorialized Dukic in a statement.
Lazar Dukic at the 2023 CrossFit Games. Via CrossFit.
“You were our first CrossFit athlete at Tyr, and we’ve had the pleasure of building a relationship with you over the years,” Tyr’s statement reads. “Always friendly, with the biggest smile and the best attitude. Always fierce when you took the competition floor.
“We’ll forever cherish the memories from all of our conversations and the time we spent together. You were more than one of our athletes, you were a friend.
“You’ll be in our hearts and minds forever.”
It’s not yet known what exactly caused Dukic to struggle in the water and ultimately go under, but he did deserve better. He didn’t deserve to die on a livestream with tens of thousands of people watching and those capable of helping him doing nothing. May God bless his soul.
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