By Mitch Phillips
TOKYO (Reuters) -When Cooper Lutkenhaus talked about how he developed his 800 metres tactics "at a younger age" on Friday it brought a ripple of laughs from his U.S. team mates wondering just how far back the 16-year-old sensation was reaching.
Lutkenhaus 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.
Lutkenhaus
booked his worlds slot by finishing second to Donavan Brazier in the U.S. qualifiers last month, clocking a scarcely credible 1:42.27 in the process.
That took more than three seconds off his personal best and was more than a second faster than the previous under-18 world best set by Kenya’s Timothy Kitum at the 2012 Olympics. It is the fourth-fastest 800 ever run by an American and the joint 18th-fastest by anyone.
However, it was not just the time, but Lutkenhaus's racecraft that was so incredible for such a young performer, as he swept through a high-quality field from a distant seventh with 200 metres to go to secure a dream Tokyo berth.
"I think some of my strengths are just being able to know when to make moves," said Lutkenhaus, whose amazing summer took another upward turn last month when he signed a pro contract with Nike.
"I think that's something that I've always been pretty good at. I mean, I'm still pretty young.
"The race went out super-fast and I was kind of in the back, but all I can do is control what I do."
Lutkenhaus said after what had been a "crazy" period, things had gone smoothly in his preparation and that his teammates had gone out of their way to help him on this adventure.
"There's a lot of experience here so to be able to learn from them and then other athletes like Donovan and Bryce (Hoppel), I feel like that can go a long way," he said.
"The journey's been awesome. To be able to sit in this seat next to some of the best athletes in the world at such a young age, it's really exciting.
"But we're just trying to keep things normal and we've done that pretty well since the USAs. It's about making sure I just keep doing what I need to do."
Lutkenhaus, whose time would have been the senior U.S. record just over a year ago, will obviously be the centre of attention when the 800 metre heats get under way on Tuesday. But he has already adopted the seasoned athlete's approach of not allowing himself to look beyond giving his best.
"Whenever I step on that track, as long as I leave it all out there, that could be first place, that could be last, but as long as I know I left everything out there, I'm not going to be upset with the results," he said.
"I don't think I have any pressure or outside noise on me so the goals for Tokyo are to just see what I can do. If that's a final, if that's a semi-final, if that's preliminary, I'm walking out of the stadium with my head held high, being able to represent Team USA."
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, Editing by William Maclean)
