Rising teen sensation poised for breakthrough in Tokyo

When Cooper Lutkenhaus talked about how he developed his 800 metres tactics "at a younger age" on Sept 12, it brought a ripple of laughs from his US teammates wondering just how far back the 16-year-old sensation was reaching.

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TOKYO — When Cooper Lutkenhaus talked about how he developed his 800 metres tactics "at a younger age" on Sept 12, it brought a ripple of laughs from his US teammates wondering just how far back the 16-year-old sensation was reaching.

The high school junior is about to become the youngest American to compete at a World Championships, but looked and sounded as poised as 34-year-old pole vaulter Katie Moon sitting alongside him at a press conference at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium.

He booked his worlds slot by finishing second to Donavan Brazier in the US qualifiers in August, clocking a scarcely credible 1min 42.27sec in the process.

That took more than three seconds off his personal best and was 0.26sec faster than the previous under-18 world best set by Kenya's Timothy Kitum at the 2012 Olympics.