The PFAA made this demand less than two weeks after Lazar Đukić’s death.

Last updated on August 20, 2024

Written by Emily Beers and Joe Genetin-Pilawa

On the afternoon of August 20, 2024, the Professional Fitness Athletes’ Association (PFAA) called for CrossFit Games director Dave Castro “should be relieved of his position on the (CrossFit) sports team.”

The message was delivered directly to CrossFit CEO Don Faul at 1 p.m. PT.

Two other demands that the PFAA made to Faul this afternoon were:

• “An appropriate level of transparency between CrossFit and the PFAA regarding their third-party investigation into the death of Lazar Dukic and subsequent changes to protect all athletes going forward.”

• “CrossFit creates an independent safety team to work with the PFAA on an ongoing basis.”

• Read the full statement below.

This happened as a result of the death of Lazar Đukić during the swimming portion of Event 1 at the 2024 CrossFit Games 12 days ago.

The details: The PFAA’s position is that it no longer has confidence in Castro due to CrossFit’s years of unwillingness to seriously engage in athlete safety and risk mitigation at events.

In a phone call with Morning Chalk Up today, Fikowski said, “We feel that Dave Castro can no longer be a part of the athletic team given the trust we have lost in him.”

• (Dave Castro) loves the CrossFit Games and has done an incredible amount for the CrossFit Games,” said Fikowski. “However, love does not always mean competence and the ability to take the next step to where it needs to go and where the athletes believe it needs to go.”

• Fikowski added that the athletes wanted more cooperation and clearer guidelines, which Castro was never willing to provide.

Grace Paulus, chief operating officer of the PFAA, added that CrossFit’s unwillingness to engage and collaborate was a “consistent pattern of behavior that we have observed for years and therefore represents the final (breaking point).”

A big deal: One example Fikowski gave to Morning Chalk Up of Castro’s unwillingness to consider athletes’ interests occurred on Thursday, August 8, in the hours following Đukić’s death.

• After several hours of discussions with Dave Castro and the CrossFit Sport Team with As Fikowski discussed with the athletes and coaches whether and how to proceed with the 2024 CrossFit Games, he turned to Castro and said, ‘It doesn’t make sense to call this a decision made in collaboration with the athletes (…) CrossFit must take responsibility for the decision to continue with this competition.’ And (he) looked right at me and agreed in front of the room full of participants.”

The next day, at the opening of the CrossFit Games broadcast, Castro reported that an email survey of athletes showed 78 percent wanted to compete. After further discussion with sideline reporter Mike Arsenault, Castro said:

• “I will stop here; all this was decided with the input (of the athletes). Ultimately, we made decisions that many people will not agree with 100 percent, primarily because of (…) their grief, and there are many people who are grieving. But I think the process and the steps we took to get to this point were the best we could do in the short amount of time and in this tragic moment to make the voices of as many people as possible heard.”

And one more thing: Before contacting Faul today, the PFAA held two phone calls with PFAA members, including athletes, coaches and agents, to inform them of its plan. One call took place on August 19 and one on August 20.

• There were 35 people on the first call and 54 on the second.and a general sentiment was, “That’s not it, is it?” Paulus explained that the PFAA then made it “painfully clear” that these were just “three first steps” to get the ball rolling.

• Fikowski does not expect everyone to agree with all of the PFAA’s decisionsbut he hopes to form a cohesive group that will help drive positive change.

• “There is strength in all of us, “Hopefully we stay together in a really strong, united group,” Fikowski said.

The big picture: For years, athletes and coaches have been concerned about CrossFit’s handling of athlete safety. Tragically, it was the death of one of the sport’s best athletes that sparked the crisis.

For the PFAA, meaningful change begins with removing Castro from CrossFit’s athletic scope. Ultimately, Fikowski said, CrossFit’s response to the PFAA’s first three demands will determine the next steps needed.

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PFAA public statement:

“The PFAA represents the interests of athletes competing in the CrossFit Games season. The sport is built on the principle that athletes don’t know all the details of the events they are competing in, but we always assumed that if something went wrong, they would bail us out. We were wrong.

1. We demand an appropriate level of transparency between CrossFit and the PFAA regarding their independent investigation into the death of Lazar Đukić and subsequent changes to protect all athletes going forward.
2. We demand that CrossFit establish an independent safety team that works with the PFAA on an ongoing basis.
3. We demand that Dave Castro be removed from his position on the sports team.

These demands reflect the immediate steps needed to restore athlete confidence in the sport of CrossFit. The PFAA also recognizes that more needs to be done to change the culture and strategic direction of this sport and secure its future, and that will take time.

Signed, The PFAA Board – Anníe Thorisdottir, Brent Fikowski, Dina Swift, Fee Saghafi, Leeverne Engelbrecht, Patrick Vellner, Royce Dunne, Victoria Campos”

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Photo credit: Mike Halpin, @known_knowable / Instagram