As the third men’s heat took to the floor during Event 2 on Friday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX, Luka Đukić was notably absent.

Though not a surprise, Đukić joined last year’s reigning champions, Jeff Adler and Laura Horvath, in withdrawing from the 2024 CrossFit Games after his brother Lazar Dukic’s tragic death during the swim portion during Event 1 of the competition on Thursday.

Prior to Friday’s first event, Đukić posted an Instagram story in tribute to his brother, saying, “You loved the sport that didn’t love you back.”

“No tribute will ever give you back to me,” he wrote.

Credit: @luka.djukic / Instagram

During the tribute to Lazar that began the day, Luka watched from the stands, unable to fight back tears.

Like Horvath and Slovakia’s Karin Frey, who also decided not to compete this weekend, Đukić expressed some anger about his brother’s death.

“This is something that could have been prevented and there is no way of going around it,” Đukić wrote in his story.

That being said, Đukić also said he has “huge respect” for all the athletes who are choosing to compete.

“Maybe there will be some time in the future where I will be able to share more, for now, this is everything I will share on the matter. My brother, you touched more lives than you know and you will live forever,” he added.

Featured image: Dave Shenton

The post “You Loved the Sport That Didn’t Love You Back”: Luka Đukić Comments on Brother Lazar’s Death appeared first on BarBend.