US teen Lutkenhaus, on break from school, becomes youngest win World Championship event with historic gold - WATCH

US teenager Cooper Lutkenhaus has become the youngest athlete to win any event at a World Championships, indoor or out. Lutkenhaus eteched his name in the history with gold medal in 800m on Sunday (Mar 22) at World Indoor Championships in Poland. The 17-year-old had also taken part in the last year's event as well but lost in the first round. Lutkenhaus completed the race in record 1m 44.24sec to win the historic gold ahead of favorite Belgium’s Eliott Crestan who had won bronze and silver in 2024 and 2025 editions, successively. Spain's Mohamed Attaoui was the bronze medal winner in the event.

Who is 17-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus?

The teenger, born on December 19, 2008, turned 17 only three months ago. He is a native of Texas and studies at Northwest High School, in Justin, Texas. He took break from the classes at the school to attend the Indoor World Athletics Championships and clearly made full of them. Have a look at the race below:

Speaking about his expectations from the event, Lutkenhaus said: "I came out here thinking I probably wasn't the favourite, but any time I feel like I can step into a final I have a chance to win."

"Maybe it came from confidence or maybe from being too young but I really wanted to try to make a defining move. I believed in that on the third lap – I just wanted to try to take it from there.

"I'm so surprised by how much support I received from everybody around me being a teenager and starting to compete at the senior level – the highest level. I heard guys yelling for me from the infield for the whole race, especially in the last 150m. They got me to the finish line in first position. Team USA has such a great group together," he added.