The fitness sports world was hit by a shocking tragedy earlier this month when Serbian athlete Lazar Djukic died on the opening day of the 2024 CrossFit Games. The circumstances of the incident are still unclear. Under investigationBut even before the competition began, athletes had expressed concerns about the 2024 Olympics and how CrossFit would run the sport in general.
“It was a great experience,” third place finisher Brent Fikowski said after the competition. Slide series for Instagram SUMMARY STEPS Professional Fitness Athletes Association (PFAA)The PFAA, an advocacy group for CrossFit athletes of which he is president, called for greater transparency about the 2024 competition ahead of the event. Since its inception in 2020, the PFAA has been pushing for the professionalization of the sport, advocating for a change from standardized judging to higher safety standards. The request was largely rejected, according to Fikowski’s written statement. “To me, this is a classic sign of CrossFit’s lack of professionalism and interest in working together on safety concerns,” he wrote.
Following Djukic’s death, the situation surrounding the sport is no longer acceptable to many athletes, Fikowski said in his post: “We need change and, together with my colleagues at the PFAA, I want to lead the charge on behalf of all athletes, past, present and future, to ensure this never happens again in the sport we love.”
Currently, PFAAs are They released a statement to CrossFit and made three demands. Inc., including transparency in investigations The death of Djukic, the formation of a new independent security team, and Dave Castro resigns from his position with the sports team. [Editor’s note: Men’s Health reached out to CrossFit, Inc. for comment on the demands and has not yet heard back.]
Fikowski said: M.H. I spoke at length with him about what he and the PFAA are trying to change and how he thinks protecting athletes can help CrossFit move forward. Here are his words, edited and condensed for clarity:
Naturally “The foundation of our sport, and what makes our sport unique, is that you don’t know what you’re going to do. When you sign up to compete at any level, there’s a level of mystery about what event you’re going to compete in. Sometimes you find out a week or two before, sometimes you find out an hour before. And there’s this assumption that if something goes wrong, you’re going to be fine. And we were wrong.
This is the fundamental destruction of trust. My Instagram post from a week agoit’s clear that trust was lacking in many other areas. We’ve spoken to athletes who have competed in various CrossFit competitions over the years, and many of them have had similar experiences to the interactions I’ve had with CrossFit, Inc. staff. Unfortunately, it’s a long-standing story in many sports, where the people in power and who run the competitions treat the athletes as disposable. “Oh, if you don’t like it, someone else will take your place. You’re lucky to be here.” This is a very common attitude, and it’s why athletes’ associations and unions are formed to have the athletes’ best interests in mind.
[CrossFit Inc.’s] The response over the past four years has been mixed at best and often dismissive: “We know better.” This is just a common sentiment, a common tone, and a pattern of behavior of not listening to concerns. No one on that team has ever competed at a high level in the sport or coached at a high level, and many members have never competed at a high level in any sport. So their experience and understanding of the sport is very new, they know that so much has changed in the last 10-15 years in terms of what athletes are capable of and how they are trained, and they have a desire to have their voice heard at the decision-making table.
The demands we are making now are worst case scenarios. [CrossFit] In a very professional manner. Creating clear lines of communication, maintaining confidentiality, building systems together, working collaboratively. The fact that we have to make this public is the end result of years of this organizational behavior and lack of willingness to engage.
This statement and these three demands are just the beginning. We are saying that much more needs to be done to change the cultural and strategic direction of the sport, and that is very important. We emphasized this point when we prepared this statement and spoke to multiple athletes. This is what they wanted to emphasize. We cannot simply say, “Here are our three demands,” and expect them to follow them and both sides to operate the same way they have in the past. That is not our expectation. This will be part of an ongoing effort to force very significant change in the coming weeks and months.
Discussion [about athletes leaving CrossFit] It’s happening. When most of the athletes that we support ask us, “What do you do?” they answer, “I’m a CrossFit athlete.” So that word, that name association, that brand is still valuable to us, and we’re not trying to destroy that brand. That’s not the intent of our request. We want to protect the brand. But there are individuals that work at CrossFit who believe there’s a culture there that needs to change significantly. That’s the perception that we have, and that’s the perception that’s held by not just our athletes, but a lot of people involved in this industry. So we’re looking for options that have a future that’s associated with the brand and the word CrossFit, but we’re also looking for options that don’t, if that’s what it’s going to be.
CrossFit, Inc. [Director of the CrossFit Games Dave Castro] If he has a role in the association or training, he is welcome to remain in that role. As for the sports teams, this betrayal of trust regarding Lazar’s death is a big deal even at the weekend. [of the Games] “There have been multiple incidents that demonstrate a consistent pattern of behavior where the message he communicated to us was one thing, and then the message he communicated to the general public. Coupled with that is a lack of willingness to cooperate and communicate at a collective level with players individually, collectively, and the PFAA. Looking forward, there are many significant changes that need to happen, and I don’t see how that can be accomplished with Dave Castro as part of a sports team.”
What we want is a sport where we’re expected to give it our all. We want you to go as fast as you can, so we create a safe environment for you to do that. And if you get too carried away or struggle in the water, we’re there for you. If you tear your hand up, someone’s going to fix it. That’s the expectation, and it seems like the minimum expectation we have for this competition. We’re not asking for free treats, are we? The next level is we want to see who’s the best. You don’t need to hurt us or make us work harder than necessary to select us from start to finish. You don’t need to do it 10,000 times when 1,000 is enough.
Lazar had a great sense of humor. That’s what always stood out to me. He had a big smile and he always sweared in the best way. We needed a European representative. [for the PFAA]So I invited him into it. He was happy to do it. I think it started with Lazar and his brother. [Luka]they wanted to make competing in the sport their main source of income. They compete as often or more often than most other men at their same level. They travel all over Europe to compete in competitions. And the longer they compete, the more people will watch. Often, the culture in which competition organizers treat their athletes is reflected in the way CrossFit is portrayed in the media: an “if you don’t like it, get out” attitude.
But Lazar was a friend and a very good athlete. He was one of the few athletes who would approach my coach and have a heart-to-heart conversation. It wasn’t just “hello, goodbye,” it was heart-to-heart. I always wanted to spend more time with him. It’s hard when you’re competing. I always thought I’d get to spend more time with him after I was done competing. It’s hard that he’s gone.
