THE TRACK SHOCK of the summer so far, it is safe to say — certainly for dyed-in-the-wool U.S. fans — has been 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus and his sledgehammering of the 800’s High School Record: 1:46.26 and then 1:45.45 in June. That was just the start.
As August began, the prep soph from Texas exploded past 1:44 and 1:43 all the way to 1:42.27 in placing 2nd to ’19 world champion Donavan Brazier in the USATF Champs final.
Is your head still spinning?
You’re far from alone. Thus who better to poll for some perspective, we thought when the opportunity arose, than the first 800 man in history to race under the 1:43.00 barrier and — 23 months later — into 1:41 territory.
That man, of course, is World Athletics President Seb Coe. In this millennium, Briton Coe, now 68, makes news leading the charge for our sport globally and as a heavyweight in international sports governance and business generally.
Yet in another life, as it were, 46 years ago in Oslo, Norway, Coe, then 22, chopped down the 800 World Record by a full second. (Premium T&FN subscribers can view the race report in the September ’79 issue linked from our Past Issues page)
His July 05, 1979 race to 1:42.33 smashed a standard set 2 years earlier by Cuban Olympic legend Alberto Juantorena. Another two years later in June of 1981 — having won the first of his two Olympic 1500 golds in the interim — Coe blasted the WR down to 1:41.73. That record defied challenge for 16 seasons until Kenyan-born Dane Wilson Kipketer at long last dispatched it with a 1:41.24 run in 1997.
The World Record has since progressed to 1:40.91, a product of David Rudisha’s otherworldly 2012 London Olympics victory. Coe, we need not mention, shepherded that Games to its colossal fruition as CEO of its local organizing committee.
Seb Coe knows the 2-lap event, so we asked him about Lutkenhaus and his record, which is not just a U.S. HSR but the World Youth (U18) Record, as well.
Coe: “Well, first of all, I’d measure the track. By the way, that was a joke. My Comms team are looking at that track.
“No, I’m teasing you. I mean, somebody told me [about Lutkenhaus’s time] when I was in my office in Monaco, and I thought, ‘No,’ I said. ‘You’ve got that wrong.’
“You know,…
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