At just 16, Cooper Lutkenhaus is set to become the youngest American ever to compete at the World Track and Field Championships, which take place next month at Tokyo.
Lutkenhaus, a rising junior at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, placed second in the 800-meter final at the USA Track and Field Championships on Sunday at Eugene, Ore., with a time of 1:42:27. Donovan Brazier of Grand Rapids, Mich., won the event.
Lutkenhaus’ time smashed the previous U18 world record — set by Kenya’s Timothy Kitum in the 2012 Olympics — by 1.1 seconds. It is also the fourth-fastest time by any U.S. man and 18th-fastest in the world. Less than a year ago, Lutkenhaus’ time would have been the American record.
The current record holder for youngest American at the World Track and Field Championships is Mary Cain, who was 17 years and 3 months old in 2013. Erriyon Knighton holds the record for youngest American man at 18 years and 5 months.
Lutkenhaus, who is scheduled to begin his junior year of high school in just over a week, doesn’t turn 17 until December.
“I’ll be missing some school,” Lutkenhaus said, according to NBC Sports. “But hopefully the teachers will understand.”
–Field Level Media
