Not sure why people didn't regard Cooper as the favorite. Based on his indoor form, it was pretty clear that he would routinely run 142x outdoors. Nobody else in the field can do that. OK Arop could have 3 years ago but he's 27 years old now, time stops for no man.
I would pick in-form Wanyoni and maybe -- maybe -- healthy and in-form Hoey over Cooper. Not anybody else.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Rank Nat Name Time 1 🇺🇸 USA LUTKENHAUS Cooper 1:42.70 SB 2 🇨🇦 CAN AROP Marco 1:43.11 SB 3 🇩🇿 ALG MOULA Slimane 1:43.41 SB 4 🇬🇧 GBR PATTISON Ben 1:43.70 SB 5 🇦🇺 AUS BOL Peter 1:43.70 SB 6 🇫🇷 FRA TUAL Gabriel 1:43.72 7 🇬🇧 GBR WIGHTMAN Jake 1:44.39 SB 8 🇺🇸 USA HOPPEL Bryce 1:44.66 9 🇧🇼 BOT HAINGURA Kethobogile 1:45.58 10 🇪🇸 ESP ATTAOUI Mohamed 1:46.92 DNF 🇵🇱 POL SIERADZKI Patryk DNF
Each and every one of those pros (except the Polish guy that DNFed) has their pro card stripped, effective immediately. Time to put the fries in the bag bros.
A 17-year-old running 1:42 is rewriting what we thought was possible in the 800m. He’s beating Olympic medalists, global finalists, seasoned professionals, former drug cheats, current athletes under constant scrutiny, and countless clean athletes who have devoted their lives to the sport. Whether you believe it or not, it’s a performance that deserves serious scrutiny, not blind acceptance. It’s hard to wrap your head around in more ways than one, but what can you really say?
This is the sport. We are seeing it everywhere. The women's 800 today. The sub-2 marathon. "Serious scrutiny" may harden scepticism but does little to catch anybody now. We either accept the lot of it or take the view that none of it can be trusted. We may never know for sure. Regrettably, that includes a 17 year old "rewriting what we thought possible" in the 800.
Greatest teen phenom our sport has ever seen? How easily we forget Jim Ryun running 3:51 in 1966 at 19 years old.
A reasonable enough question, but why wouldn’t you at least grant the possibility of this kid being on par with Ryun?
And regardless, how many more top-tier performances, or what time threshold, do you need to see from CL to consider “greatest” something other than hyperbole?
Greatest teen phenom our sport has ever seen? How easily we forget Jim Ryun running 3:51 in 1966 at 19 years old.
At this point I'd say Coop has surpassed Ryun. He's a world champ and is beating the best in the world while still in high school at 17, while Ryun didn't achieve his WRs until 19 (after he graduated).
Cooper doesn't have any WRs to his name yet, but by the time he is 19 it's totally possible he has the 800m WR.
was slightly nervous for Cooper…this being his first DL 800…. He properly dispatched Arop and the rest of the field and now my feelings have shifted from nervous to curious… Just how good is he? Sub 1:40 loading? He’s quite the tactician to be so young.
I agree it's a jot watch him run as he won a DFL which no teen has ever done before. Good for him as he ran faster then he has ever before and faster then any one in this race as he won the race. He didn't run the fastest time ever as that was by David something at the olympics from before but he ran real fast as he won in a real fast time
A 17-year-old running 1:42 is rewriting what we thought was possible in the 800m. He’s beating Olympic medalists, global finalists, seasoned professionals, former drug cheats, current athletes under constant scrutiny, and countless clean athletes who have devoted their lives to the sport. Whether you believe it or not, it’s a performance that deserves serious scrutiny, not blind acceptance. It’s hard to wrap your head around in more ways than one, but what can you really say?
I say: it seems illogical Copper ever woke up one day thinking “My natural talent alone is prohibiting me from running as fast at age 16 as I’d like to be in relation to my competition I better take some PEDs”
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