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A Serbian competitor in the CrossFit Games dies during a swimming event at a Texas lake

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A Serbian competitor in the CrossFit Games dies during a swimming event at a Texas lake
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News

A Serbian competitor in the CrossFit Games dies during a swimming event at a Texas lake

2024-08-09 11:47 Last Updated At:11:52

DALLAS (AP) — A Serbian competitor in the CrossFit Games died while competing in a swimming event Thursday morning at a Texas lake, officials said.

CrossFit CEO Don Faul said during a news conference that they were “deeply saddened” and were working with authorities on the investigation into the death of one of their athletes at Marine Creek Lake in Fort Worth.

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Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, center, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, center, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

CrossFit CEO Don Faul reacts during a news conference after an athlete drowned during the run swim event in Marine Creek Lake on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy

CrossFit CEO Don Faul reacts during a news conference after an athlete drowned during the run swim event in Marine Creek Lake on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy

A jet ski pulls in buoys from the CrossFit Games at Marine Creek Lake, where an athlete drowned during the run swim event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP)

A jet ski pulls in buoys from the CrossFit Games at Marine Creek Lake, where an athlete drowned during the run swim event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP)

The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office identified the athlete as 28-year-old Lazar Dukic of Serbia. The medical examiner’s office had not yet listed his cause of death.

An official with the Fort Worth Fire Department said they were called out around 8 a.m. to assist police because there was “a participant in the water that was down and hadn’t been seen in some point in time.”

Officers who were working the event were told a participant was unaccounted for after last being seen in the water and then not resurfacing, police said.

The Fort Worth fire official said they responded for search and rescue and were not on the scene when the initial call was made.

Faul said CrossFit had a safety plan and did have safety personnel on site at the event. CrossFit did not respond Thursday to an inquiry from The Associated Press seeking more details on that safety plan.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the event on Thursday included a 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) run followed by an 800-meter (0.5-mile) swim. The newspaper said an estimated 10,000 people were in the area for the games, which began Thursday and were set to run through Sunday.

Kaitlin Pritchard told the newspaper that she was standing by the finish line when she saw Dukic approach. She said he was among swimmers she noticed had changed up their swimming patterns, which she thought could have been because they were tired from the run.

Pritchard saw people she assumed were lifeguards on paddleboards on the lake but didn’t notice any of them jumped in to try to rescue anyone, she said.

“Gauging where the people on the paddleboards were and everything, it’s just that he should have been reachable,” Pritchard told the newspaper.

Dukic played water polo and was an athlete ambassador for FITAID, a sports drink brand, said Gijs Spaans, general manager for FITAID in Europe. Spaans, who knew Dukic for three years, described him as a driven athlete and a “guy who walks into a room and lights up the room.”

“He had an incredible work ethic with his athletics career but, you know, always also made time to speak to people and make time for them," Spaans said. "Just a really, really good dude.”

Spaans was watching a livestream of the swim miles away at the main event site. He was looking for Dukic among the swimmers coming out of the water before realizing he was missing.

“I thought he had this. And then all of a sudden I was thinking, ‘Why is his name not showing up in the finishes?'” Spaans said. “All the race, he was in top five of the race. And all of a sudden I see all these other people coming in. I’m like, 'What’s going on?’”

“He was in it to win it,” Spaans added. “He was a great swimmer.”

The mission of the CrossFit Games, first held in 2007, is to “find the fittest athletes in the world,” the CrossFit website said. It says the games change every year and often the details are not announced until just before the event.

The CrossFit community is like a family, Faul said.

“We’re doing everything in our power during this tragic time to support the family, to support our community,” Faul said.

Dukic's biography on the CrossFit website says he was the third-ranked CrossFit athlete in Serbia and the 88th-ranked worldwide. Dukic finished ninth in his debut in the games in 2021, then eighth the next season and ninth in 2023.

Stengle reported from Dallas and Kelety from Phoenix. AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli contributed from Columbia, South Carolina.

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, center, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, center, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

Lazar Dukic, of Serbia, 28, died while competing in a CrossFit Games swimming event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at a lake in Texas. (FITAID via AP)

CrossFit CEO Don Faul reacts during a news conference after an athlete drowned during the run swim event in Marine Creek Lake on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy

CrossFit CEO Don Faul reacts during a news conference after an athlete drowned during the run swim event in Marine Creek Lake on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy

A jet ski pulls in buoys from the CrossFit Games at Marine Creek Lake, where an athlete drowned during the run swim event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP)

A jet ski pulls in buoys from the CrossFit Games at Marine Creek Lake, where an athlete drowned during the run swim event on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas, (Amanda McCoy/Star-Telegram via AP)

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Trump's first day actions loom large as Davos begins

2025-01-21 14:05 Last Updated At:14:11

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — As the World Economic Forum’s annual gabfest gets into full swing Tuesday, President Donald Trump gave everybody something to talk about with his actions on his first day back in office.

Energy industry executives will mull Trump's vow to “drill, baby, drill.” Foreign leaders will decipher what he means with his wish to expand U.S. territory. Environmentalists will decry his planned exit from the Paris climate deal. Trade advocates can digest his newly christened “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs and duties.

From the earliest speeches, panel discussions and back-channel meetings in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, Trump’s executive orders and evocative oratory will loom large.

Here's a look at what's on tap Tuesday in Davos.

Right from the start, participants will be able to riff off of -- and possibly rip into -- Trump’s new tack.

One of the earliest sessions serves up “early thoughts” about the U.S. presidency; another focuses on electric vehicles, a Biden administration “mandate” for which Trump vowed to revoke.

Yet another dissects how the European Union will balance its environmental ambitions with a need for economic development -- and Trump’s vow to declare a “national energy emergency” will certainly weigh on minds in Brussels. An afternoon talk considers Europe's defense strategy with Trump reviving his “America First” ambitions.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gets early billing on the Davos dais. Her morning speech will send an early signal about how the 27-country bloc is interpreting Washington's new line.

She's likely to try fancy footwork — France and her native Germany are riven by political discord and uncertainty, and some recently ascendant leaders like Italy's Giorgia Meloni have cast themselves as more Trump-friendly.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has lashed out at Trump ally Elon Musk's support for the European far-right, also will speak.

Scholz's hold on power in economically sluggish Germany appears tenuous: His Social Democrats are trailing third in polls showing conservative Friedrich Merz is the favorite to become the next chancellor after Feb. 23 elections. Merz is himself set to take part in a discussion in Davos late Tuesday.

During his presidential campaign, Trump said he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day. He didn't mention either country in his inaugural address, even if he did say he wants to be “a peacemaker and a unifier” more generally.

Nearly three years after Russia's full-blown invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will take the stage. Both Moscow and Kyiv have been seeking battlefield gains to strengthen their negotiating positions ahead of any prospective talks to end the conflict.

The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, and the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, are likely to take discuss the Gaza ceasefire.

And U.S. corporate chieftains for companies like Coca-Cola, Bank of America and Boston Consulting Group will share thoughts on the direction of the U.S. economy under Trump's new term.

A climate activist sprays color to the entrance of the Hotel Flueela to protest against the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)

A climate activist sprays color to the entrance of the Hotel Flueela to protest against the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)

Special police is on guard on the roof of the congress hotel prior to the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)

Special police is on guard on the roof of the congress hotel prior to the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)

Countries' flags fly on the roof of the congress center in front of Kongress Hotel prior to the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

Countries' flags fly on the roof of the congress center in front of Kongress Hotel prior to the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

Activists of Drop Fossil Subsidies protest after they sprayed an Amazon shop window with paint as a police officer cordons off the area during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)

Activists of Drop Fossil Subsidies protest after they sprayed an Amazon shop window with paint as a police officer cordons off the area during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)

A man cleans the floor at the congress center prior to the official opening of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A man cleans the floor at the congress center prior to the official opening of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People line up in front of the Ukraine house to watch the inauguration of Donald Trump on screens alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People line up in front of the Ukraine house to watch the inauguration of Donald Trump on screens alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos,Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People watch the inauguration of Donald Trump on screens at the Ukraine house alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People watch the inauguration of Donald Trump on screens at the Ukraine house alongside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

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