FORT WORTH, Texas — A CrossFit official has apologized to the family of the athlete who died during competition in Fort Worth last month, saying he shouldn't have said the family "blessed" the decision to continue the CrossFit Games.
Dave Castro, the CrossFit Games founder and the general manager of sport and education at CrossFit, issued a statement Friday apologizing to the family of Lazar Dukic.
Dukic's brother, Luka, alleged in a lengthy Instagram post earlier Thursday that Castro had asked him about continuing the CrossFit Games after Lazar died but then ultimately told him the decision to continue the games was "not up to you."
CrossFit officials then indicated that the games were continuing at the wishes of the Dukic family.
"I should never have said that the decision to continue the CrossFit Games in August was 'blessed' by their family," Castro said. "At the time, the decision was made to continue the Games and allow our athletes to compete - and we respected those athletes who decided to withdraw. This decision was made by CrossFit and I never intended to put the weight of this decision on Luka, the Đukić family or our CrossFit athletes. I’ve never been in a situation like this before and I absolutely made a mistake. I sincerely regret any pain I’ve caused."
Lazar Dukic died during a swimming event on the first day of the CrossFit Games on Aug. 8. He was swimming in Marine Lake when he went under the water, as a live video stream showed. He was later recovered dead.
Dukic's official cause of death has not been released yet by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, though his brother, Luka Dukic, said officials have ruled out a heart attack.
Luka Dukic provided the update in his Instagram post Thursday morning.
Dukic alleged that Castro met with him in his hotel room after Lazar died and told him that CrossFit wanted to continue the competition "as a tribute for your brother."
"In a shape I was in mentally at that moment, I said many things, but most important ones were 'I don't care, nothing will bring him back' and 'I don't think I am thinking clearly so this decision should not be up to me.' Dave replied 'its not up to you anyways.'"
CrossFit officials had said they decided to continue the games per the wishes of Lazar Dukic's family.
Dukic also said he had another conversation with Castro the next morning about the tribute that was planned for his brother. Dukic said he asked Castro "to provide me [a] level of privacy" during the tribute, saying he didn't want any media around him and didn't want to be featured on the screen at Dickies Arena.
Dukic said "my wish was not respected."
Dukic said he didn't have any other conversations with CrossFit officials after the tribute. He said he was asked to meet with Castro on Saturday night but he declined. He also declined to attend the CrossFit Games closing ceremony.
Dukic's Instagram post included a detailed account of the CrossFit competition in which his brother died.
He said he was a bit behind his brother in the running portion of the run-and-swim event, but Lazar missed the entrance to the water, costing him a few seconds. As a result, the two brothers entered the water at around the same time.
"That was the last time I saw him," Luka Dukic said.
He said he couldn't see where his brother was in the water. After the race, he tried to find his brother but someone told him that he still wasn't out of the water.
Luka Dukic said he found Castro, who told him that Lazar's chip had crossed the finish line. Luka felt a "huge relief," he said, and went to relax for a few minutes.
That's when someone from CrossFit came up to him and told him that two chip timers were still missing. Around the same time, CrossFit officials were asking spectators and media to leave as they searched for a body in the water, Luka Dukic said.
"What I later saw on the video was that there were no attempts to save Lazar, he was fighting and went down close to two very unequipped volunteers (yes) on the paddleboard who didn't saw him and very close to the finish line," Dukic posted.
Dukic said he didn't want to "point fingers on this post and try to ruin anyone's name," but he said he felt obligated to ask questions and "go deeper into this case" about what happened to his brother and the response from CrossFit.
CrossFit officials after the games announced a third-party investigation into Lazar Dukic's death. The results of the investigation have not been announced.