Cooper Lutkenhaus, a 16-year-old rising junior from Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, stunned the track and field world on Sunday by setting a new under-18 world record in the men’s 800 meters at the USA Track & Field Championships.
His time of 1:42.27, the fourth-fastest in U.S. history, secured second place and earned him a spot as the youngest American ever to qualify for the World Athletics Championships, which will be held this year in Tokyo on September 13-21.
Trailing in seventh with 200 meters to go, Lutkenhaus unleashed a blistering final sprint, passing Olympians Brandon Miller, Josh Hoey, and Bryce Hoppel to finish just behind champion Donavan Brazier, who clocked 1:42.16.
“I saw someone coming up and I was like, ‘Dang, this could be the high schooler,’” Brazier told reporters, per USA Today. “This kid’s phenomenal. I’m glad that I’m 28 and maybe have a few more years left in me, hopefully won’t have to deal with him in his prime because that dude is definitely special.”
Lutkenhaus, who has only been running track for three years, credited a strategy rooted in his middle school days.
“I’ve always kind of had a natural spot with 200 [meters] to go,” he said, per USA Today. “Ever since middle school, that’s kind of been the spot I’ve really pushed from. Kind of just decided to go back to middle school tactics with 200 to go and really just give everything I had left.”
His performance, which smashed his personal best by over three seconds and broke the previous under-18 world record set by Kenya’s Timothy Kitum at the 2012 Olympics in London, was hailed as extraordinary.
Steve Magness, author of “The Science of Running,” called it “the most impressive athletic feat in history” in a social media post, adding, “Cooper Lutkenhaus, take a bow.”
Despite low expectations, Lutkenhaus was in disbelief at his achievement.
“I don’t know if there’s words for it right now, but just… made the team,” he said, per Olympics.com. “I wasn’t supposed to make the team – a lot of people didn’t think I’d make the finals. So being able to do that is just a special moment.”
Lutkenhaus, whose time ranks as the sixth-fastest globally this season, will miss some school to compete in Tokyo.
“I’ll be missing some school, but hopefully the teachers will understand,” he said.
When asked if he could run even faster, he said, “I guess we’ll see.”