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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Sean Ingle

Meet Cooper Lutkenhaus, 17, the phenom who became 800m world champion while at school

Cooper Lutkenhaus raises his finger after winning the Diamond League 800m in Stockholm
Cooper Lutkenhaus says ‘I want people to look at me as someone that helped change the sport.’ Photograph: Fredrik Karlsson/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

We are in living in the era of teenage super talents. On Saturday, Mirra Andreeva won the French Open at 19. Spain’s Lamine Yamal, at 18, is one of the favourites for the World Cup’s golden ball. Then there is Cooper Lutkenhaus, the 17-year-old American already making the world’s best athletes gasp for air and reach for superlatives, who may yet prove the best of the bunch.

True, it is early days. But Lutkenhaus is already track and field’s youngest world champion, having won 800m indoor gold in March. On Sunday, he added to his CV with victory against a top-class field in his first Diamond League race. But it was what his rivals said afterwards in Stockholm that left the deepest mark.

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