Lazar Ðukić’s reminiscence was entrance and heart all through the competitors.
Final up to date on November nineteenth, 2024
The 2024 Belgrade Video games wrapped final weekend, crowning winners Moritz Fiebig and Matilde Garnes after three days of competitors.
- Opponents from around the globe took half within the occasion for a spot atop the rostrum, however that was not the first cause many have been there.
Dubbed the “Lazar Ðukić Memorial Competitors,” the Belgrade Video games was a weekend of tears and disappointment but in addition comradery and luxury as everybody got here collectively to honor certainly one of CrossFit’s most beloved rivals in his house nation.
The 2024 Belgrade Video games Exercises
The primary of six exercises was:
For time:
- 2500/2200-meter bike
- 150 double-unders
- 1250/1100-meter row
- 150 double-unders
- 600/500-meter ski
It was a big quarter-hour, because it was when spectators and fellow athletes had the prospect to look at Luka Ðukić take the ground in his house nation, one thing he had been planning on doing alongside his brother.
On a social media submit, Luka shared a message to Lazar:
- “I’m again to competing this weekend on the Belgrade Video games. That is [the] first time competing in my house nation in [the] final 7 years and this time it’s totally different. We deliberate to be right here collectively. I do know you’re watching, I hope you’re proud.”
- “I miss you each second of it.”
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The braveness it should have taken for him to be part of the occasion is unthinkable, and it led to a victory on Occasion 1, with a time of 13:29, barely ending forward of Bronislaw Olenkowicz.
- Olenkowicz later snagged a win on Occasion 4, with champion Moritz Fiebig ending first in each different occasion.
Like the boys’s division, solely three ladies took first-place occasion finishes all weekend: champion Matilde Garnes, who received Occasions 1 and a couple of; Julia Błażejowska, who received Occasion 3; and Elisa Fuliano, who received Occasions 4, 5, and 6.
Jackie Professional
The ultimate exercise, titled “Lazar’s WOD,” often known as “Jackie Professional,” from the 2022 CrossFit Video games, was a nod to Ðukić’s efficiency that yr in Madison. He received that occasion, making his means via a 1000-meter row, 50 thrusters, and 30 bar muscle-ups in 10 minutes.
On the Belgrade Video games Instagram, the staff posted concerning the exercise:
- “This occasion is devoted to an unforgettable second in Lazar Đukić’s profession when he dominated the ultimate occasion on the Video games, setting a time nobody might beat. This efficiency allowed him to make a exceptional comeback after a tricky begin, securing a spot on this planet’s prime 10.”
The Opponents
Apart from Luka Ðukić, Olenkowicz, Fiebig, Garnes, Fuliano, and Błażejowska, different athletes that rounded out the leaderboard have been Jacqueline Dahlstrom, Madeleine Persson, Camilla Salomonsson Hellman, Anestis Artemis, and Alex Kotoulas, certainly one of Lazar’s closest associates.
Commentator Lauren Smith had the prospect to ask Kotoulas about his motivation on the competitors.
- “The principle motivation is that … we’re within the hometown of Lazar, our buddy. He was my finest buddy in Europe. The sphere is loopy. The entire of Europe is right here. The Nationwide Champions are right here.
- “Each time I spoke to him, Lazar informed me, ‘I’m the king of Europe,’ and I mentioned to him, ‘No, you’re not the king of Europe; you solely have three prime [finishes], BKG is the king of Europe.’ ‘No, I’m the king of Europe.’” Lazar would reply.
- Kotoulas continued, saying that whereas he might not have been king, Lazar was “the center of Europe and the center of European CrossFit. He was representing all of us.”
Lazar Ðukić’s Legacy
The weekend was spent honoring Ðukić’s quick life, not solely via competitors however with a wall of pictures despatched in by those that cherished him, organized right into a mosaic portrait. It was a robust and emotional set up that stunned rivals and followers.
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Banners with Ðukić’s picture and title held on the ground all through the competitors, as occasion organizers stored his reminiscence on the forefront of your entire weekend.
Throughout the opening ceremony, a video montage was shared with footage of Ðukić via the years whereas rivals, followers, occasion employees, and volunteers appeared on and continued to grieve.
- For these following the competitors from house, many movies, pictures, and type phrases have been shared on lots of the athletes’ social media accounts as they mirrored on the collective grieving that came about, and the consolation all of them present in each other and the occasion as a complete.
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The Belgrade Video games staff shared a message directed to Lazar, reminding us all concerning the life that was misplaced:
“Within the silence of coaching,
and the noise of competitors,
Your smile echoes like a well-known melody.
When somebody you’re keen on turns into a reminiscence,
That reminiscence turns into a treasure.
He was an indescribable treasure to his household.
Along with Luka,
His brother and trustworthy companion,
He walked via life’s challenges.
He left the world of CrossFit with a thought:
Every little thing is feasible.
Light but sharp,
Clear and humble,
All the time smiling.
Ðukić Lazar
Just a few seconds,
One final breath,
You, too, are gone,
However your spirit stays.
It stays with us.
In each motion,
Each step,
Each coaching session
That’s how it’s with the perfect,
They by no means really go away.
They stay on in each document damaged.
Considered one of us is gone.
The best has departed.
Gone into eternity.
His deeds are our guideposts.
So thanks.
On behalf of all of us,
Whom you confirmed
The appropriate path.”
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Featured picture: Lydia Stadthoewer
