The Scholarship Without Borders Journal
Abstract
After the death of elite Serbian athlete, Lazar Ðukič, at the 2024 CrossFit Games, CrossFit, LLC’s leadership was once again in the spotlight of another controversy. In the immediate aftermath, Chief Executive Officer, Don Faul, was responsible for navigating the complex crisis communication that was required. This study evaluates the language in Faul’s oratory and seeks to answer the questions: (1) what pentadic elements are incorporated in Faul’s communication, (2) what ratio prevails and (3) how do the linguistic choices offload the guilt and responsibility that the organization had to ensure athlete safety. In employing a critical linguistic analysis framework, the Burkean logic reveals strategic language elements that cultivate identification, victimage, and shared accountability. However, when the prevailing act-agent ratio is reversed, a larger motive is revealed within the narrative, which puts athletes as prominent agents in continuing the CrossFit Games – a burden that was not of their own accord. This study contributes to a larger discourse surrounding ethics, the social responsibility in elite sports, and management.
Keywords: Burke, pentadic analysis, CrossFit, leadership, communication, rhetoric, crisis communication
Recommended Citation
Oliven, Anasheh G.
(2025)
"Dramatism and CrossFit: The Guilt Redemption Cycle in the Wake of Ðukič’s Death,"
The Scholarship Without Borders Journal: Vol. 3:
Iss.
2, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.57229/2834-2267.1066
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/swbj/vol3/iss2/5