Cooper Lutkenhaus made the most of his final kick to take second place in the men’s 800m final in Eugene at the USATF Outdoor Championships in early August — and now is betting on himself on the bigger stage as he turns professional.
Lutkenhaus announced on Monday that he will forego his last two years of prep eligibility as a student at Northwest High School outside of Dallas and sign a contract with Nike just before world championships in Tokyo next month.
His 1:42.27 time in the 800m in Eugene brought the energy to the crowd at Hayward Field as he shattered the U18 mark in the event by 1.1 seconds, a perfect moment to execute stunning performance with the eyes of the sport on him. The mark also gave him sixth-best in the world for 2025.
Lutkenhaus, who turns 17 on December 19, revealed to Flotrack in an interview that he was excited to sign a pro contract and spoke in the decision to leave school before his junior year of high school which is seen as uncommon even for elite prep athletes — despite many senior year runners making the leap.
“I’m just excited,” Lutkenhaus said. “Being able to sign with Nike, I feel like that’s every kid’s dream when they get in the sport of running. You see the best athletes are with Nike. I’m going to try to do my best to represent the brand as well as I can.
“You don’t get this chance every day and nothing’s guaranteed in the sport,” he added.
Lutkenhaus is just among a handful of runners in recent years to make the leap from high school to the professional ranks.
When Erriyon Knighton turned pro in 2021, it was just a month shy of his 17th birthday.
But now, according to Nike, Lutkenhaus is the youngest track and field athlete to ink a deal with the company and he already secured representation with Flynn Sports, the agency that backs notables like Yared Nuguse, Cole Hocker and Josh Kerr.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed but Lutkenhaus has had some affiliation with Nike under its Elite Program since 2024, which provides rising high school stars with access to top tier events, supplies and resources. And despite this existing tie-in with the brand it seemed like the path for Lutkenhaus would ultimately include attending college as a competitive runner.
But his showing in Eugene at the USATF Outdoor Nationals meant far more than just a slot on the U.S. men’s 800m squad.
And next month he will be the first 16-year-old competing for Team USA at world championships, in a group lead by Donavan Brazier who finished first ahead of Lutkenhaus in Eugene.
