Can Lutkenhaus get the U18 and U20 800m world records?

He's great, but no and no.

Improvement isn't usually linear from year to year and it's hard to see him continue to shave chunks of time like that. I can imagine 1:44-something maybe, before 18, and 1:43 something before 20.

Mo Aman was a doper, convicted as such

Yea, and according to his own agent, Aman was actually 23 when he claimed to be 18, which explained a lot of things as well.

So the guy who compiled that list of age records opted to disregard any and all times by Africans? Questionable, to say the least.

Of course, I don’t think we should compare Lutkenhaus to the times Amos and Aman ran at 17/18. It’s possible they fudged their ages, but also both were eventually guilty of doping violations.

Max Burgin is a good benchmark, though a) I can’t help but feel Lutkenhaus is even more talented than Burgin and b) hopefully he is less injury prone. There’s also like 3 Polish kids who ran in the 1:44s at 17/18 in recent years, and of course I believe Lutkenhaus can do the same.

If he's 16yo, go can he break the U16 record?

Seems like we're seeing more negative split 800s these days, even with pros in 1:41 races. I'm wondering if this is the effect of bicarb and if it is something we will be seeing more of. My instincts say anyone who negative splits an 800 should be able to go faster with a positive split race but my own PR was a 2 second negative split and I'm wondering if maybe that is just a better way to run it. Time will tell...

Maybe, for at least slightly stronger runners, a "controlled" first 600 and then blast the last 200 is best?

Personally, as a more strength based runner, I don't think I could run 53.x/56.x for a 1:50, but I could see myself running 1:23.x through 600 and then blasting a 26.x

I always ran huge positive splits (I sucked at 800 but my area was weak so I won pretty much every 800m I ran as a JR and SR, did not contest 800m at regionals and state though). So I'd usually run 60/64 or 57/66, at best 61/63. My PR was 2:03.0 at the time and I ran an 800m in the summer at an allcomers in Seattle in a field that had a 3:53 miler in it, so I was taking my shot at sub 2 in what would be my last chance at the distance that year. I was expecting the race to go super fast so I sat on the pack hoping to hang on for a good time. I never felt so great in an 800m race, until I came through the lap and heard "62...63..." I said to myself "$hit" and immediately started passing people and running as hard as I could. The 3:53 guy was gone, he split 62, 52, but I mowed everyone else down and ran 62.4, 60.1 for what would end up being my lifetime PR. I never ran the 800m again after that.

I still feel like I could have run sub 2, but given that I only closed in 60.1 after a slow first lap, more realistically I think maybe mid 2:01 if I ran even or slightly positive splits.

Pros and high school guys seem to be negative splitting quite often these days and I can't believe this is something that was just discovered after 100 years of people racing the distance, so I suspect bicarb is changing the tactics. Just an observation though...

Same with Amos, age and drug cheat. We KNOW Brazier for instance was a teen when he ran 1:43.5, but unfortunately anything reported for Africans when it comes to age has to be taken with a grain of salt.

I feel like if he got in the right race with pros he could even split a 1:44.9 right now. Like michimanx said, improvement isn't linear so he could flatline after that for a bit. Look at Whittaker, Gorriaran, and Willis. None of them have made huge time jumps since HS. Cade Flatt has become irrelevant since his senior year, and Will Sumner seems destined to be a what if story at this rate. But it is exciting to speculate.

No way

most likely no, the under 18 and under 20 records are almost always east African age cheats. guys who are 22-25 represent themselves as under 18 and under 20 and run really fast trying to get a sponsor deal.

This kid is legit, 146, and looking over his shoulder

Coop's birthday, December 19th, is the absolute worst time of year for age records. To set the under 18 record, you need to be under 18 for the entire calendar year. He turns 18 in December of 2026, which means the races he runs in 2026 won't count towards the u18 record. Which means he needs to run 1:43.37 THIS YEAR, at age 16 for most of the year, to get this record. So this is obviously never going to happen.

Obviously he is never getting that Amos record either (frankly, he probably won't run that fast in his entire lifetime—only one American has ever run 1:41). Not only is Amos a convicted doper but he's also probably an age cheat too. Nobody is ever running a legit 1:41 as a teenager.

Confused... Juliette has progressed as well as one can expect. She ran 1:59 the summer she graduated HS and by end of her 2nd year of college she makes an Olympic team, makes an Olympic final and runs 1:57. Some runner's go their whole career don't achieve that yet you say she flatlined?

Coop just ran 1:42.27, breaking the u18 record by over a second. This time would have been an American record until last year. We are witnessing the rise of the greatest American runner ever.

Juiced to the gills.

1:44something was the reasonable guess for his time. He skipped 44s and 43s entirely. Its just mindboggling

I agree. He ran a super smart race, but I was shocked to see him there at the end. I figured high 1:43s was a best case scenario and just off the podium. Man.