When 16-year-old high school sensation Cooper Lutkenhaus of Justin, Texas, smashed the U18 world 800m record last Sunday in 1:42.27 at the 2025 USATF Championships, it sent shockwaves through the running world. Some called it the greatest performance ever by a U.S. high school athlete. Others dubbed Lutkenhaus the “second coming” of American middle-distance great Jim Ryun.
Ryun himself, now 78 and still an avid track fan, shared his reaction in an email to U.S. track journalist Toni Reavis.
Blog post for your consideration:https://t.co/tGQxZYsGxY
— Toni Reavis (@ToniReavis) August 6, 2025
“Like you, I was stunned and amazed at Cooper’s fantastic race,” wrote Ryun. “I think his future is very bright as long as he doesn’t get caught up in what others expect of him.”
Lutkenhaus’s breakthrough mirrors Ryun’s own teenage moment. In 1965, at just 18, Ryun defeated reigning Olympic 1,500m champion Peter Snell of New Zealand and silver medalist Josef Odložil of Czechoslovakia in the mile, clocking 3:55.3. The following year, he set two world records—first in the 800m (1:44.9) and then the mile (3:51.3). In 2004, ESPN named him the greatest U.S. high school athlete of all time.
Next month in Japan, Lutkenhaus will become the youngest American ever to compete at the World Athletics Championships, surpassing former U.S. distance runner Mary Cain, who was 17 when she ran the 1,500m at the 2013 Worlds in Moscow. And despite his young age, Ryun believes the young Texan has already shown poise beyond his years.
“In his interviews after the race, he demonstrated profound maturity in explaining how he stuck to his race plan—to stay near the front and, with 150 metres to go, start his kick,” wrote Ryun. “That maturity will serve him well.”
Still, Ryun cautions about the pressures that come along with early success. “Cooper will always have those who say he’s run too fast, too soon, and can’t maintain that progression,” Ryun said. “But in the interviews I saw, he seems capable of handling the media pressure. My prayer for Cooper is that he finds someone to help filter these external demands so he doesn’t have to respond to every request.”
Instead of starting Grade 11 in September (like most kids his age), Lutkenhaus will line up for the men’s 800m heats in Tokyo on Sept. 16. He’ll arrive as an underdog, playing with house money, and a shot at surprising the world’s best middle-distance runners on the big stage.
