No one anticipated an adolescent to outlive the 800m rounds at a USATF monitor nationals–not to mention depart with a medal. However on Sunday in Eugene, Ore., 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus did precisely that, storming to a jaw-dropping 1:42.27 to say silver and break the U18 world file.
The efficiency additionally certified him for September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, the place he’ll change into the youngest athlete in historical past to signify Staff USA at worlds.
Doha 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier received the race in a private better of 1:42.16, with American file holder Bryce Hoppel taking third in 1:42.49.
The earlier U18 file of 1:43.37 was set by Ethiopia’s Mohammed Aman in 2011; the closest an athlete has come to difficult the mark is 2024 Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who ran 1:43.76 in 2021.
For Lutkenhaus, the breakthrough was staggering: greater than three seconds quicker than his private greatest, launching him to the highest of the worldwide U20 rankings this yr and making him the sixth-fastest runner on the planet this yr general. The Justin, Texas, native’s mark additionally demolished the nine-year-old North American U20 file of 1:43.55–belonging, coincidentally, to Brazier himself–and locations him second on the world U20 all-time listing.
The tenth-grader had already smashed expectations on Friday by advancing to the ultimate, ending runner-up end to Hoppel in his semi-final in 1:45.57–simply shy of his personal 1:45.45 highschool file.
“This child is phenomenal,” Brazier instructed media post-race. “I’m glad I’m 28 and perhaps solely have a couple of years left in me–I hopefully received’t should take care of him in his prime as a result of that dude is certainly fairly particular.” Brazier’s gold-medal run was a narrative in itself: the Michigan native had solely returned to racing this season after a three-year hiatus attributable to harm, and Sunday’s time was his quickest since his world-championship-winning 1:43.55 in 2019.
See right here for full outcomes from the 2025 USATF championships.
