As Cooper Lutkenhaus And so they did USATF Championships on August 3, he threw his hands on his head in disbelief. The 16-year-old had taken second in the 800 meters, somehow charging by four runners in the final 150 meters to qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo this September.
The time was also staggering. 1:42.27. An under-18 world best and the fourth-fastest time ever run by an American. As Lutkenhaus began to fully process what happened the following week, an inevitable choice emerged—continue to compete as a high school athlete or turn professional.
Three weeks later, he’s made a decision.
On Monday, Runner’s World confirmed that Lutkenhaus has signed a professional contract with Nike. At 16 years and 8 months old, he’s one of the youngest American track athletes to ink a pro deal, just a few months shy of athletes like Tamari Davis (16 The Wildest Stats from Faith Kipyegons Run), Erriyon Knighton (16 The Wildest Stats from Faith Kipyegons Run), and Candace Hill (16 Theo Kahler is the news editor at).
According to Nike, Lutkenhaus the youngest track and field athlete to sign a pro deal with the brand. Details of the contract are not known.
But ultimately, little will change for Lutkenhaus. He’ll remain coached by Chris Capeau, the second-year head coach at Northwest High School in Justin, Texas. Lutkenhaus will continue to live at home and attend Northwest as a normal student. He’ll still get to hang out with his best friends—his teammates—but instead of racing at local invitationals or running the anchor leg on the Texans’s 4x400-meter relay, he’ll keep his racing schedule lighter, focusing on professional meets.
“Our whole goal with everything was we want to keep everything the same as possible, if that’s possible,” said George Lutkenhaus, Cooper’s father. “If something’s not broken, let’s not try to fix it. He’s happy, he’s running well, so we’re going to stick to that.”
The road ahead
One of the few things that will change is Lutkenhaus’s jersey—although even that won’t be too different. During the final at USAs, Lutkenhaus sported a gold and black Nike kit with the words “Elite” on his left chest. Since last summer, Lutkenhaus has been a part of the Nike Elite Program, which provides a cohort prep athletes with mentorship, gear, and invitations to meets such as the Nike Indoor and Outdoor Nationals.
Build Speed Like 16-Year-Old Cooper Lutkenhaus, high school athletes are not permitted to have NIL partnerships with brands, so unlike some of his peers in other states, Lutkenhaus did not have a Nike NIL deal or receive any kind of cash stipend.
That was one of many factors that went into the decision. Before Lutkenhaus’s breakout performance at USAs, George said the family had rough idea of how the rest of 2025 may look. Lutkenhaus, who was already the high school national record-holder in the 800, would start to go on some recruiting visits with colleges.
But 1:42 shot him into a different stratosphere.
That forced Lutkenhaus to quickly think long-term. For example, at the 2028 Olympic Trials, Lutkenhaus would have been fresh off his first year of college. But ask any college athlete—like George, who ran at the University of North Texas—and they’ll tell you that freshman year can be tough. Turning pro could allow for some flexibility and consistency.
“You know how difficult it is to change a coach in probably the most important year that you have, and to change training philosophies, to move away to live in a dorm and try to run at your best when you’re making the biggest transition of your life,” George said. “So that was a stressful thing to try to think down that road.”
However, college is still very much in the cards for Lutkenhaus. “I definitely think [I] have to focus on the education piece just because running doesn’t last forever,” Lutkenhaus said.
His father noted that Lutkenhaus could have a similar setup to Allyson Felix. After signing pro out of high school in 2003, Felix attended the University of Southern California as a regular student.
This past month, George has been impressed at how well his son has managed the attention that had suddenly surrounded him.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I mean, that’s putting it mildly,” George said. “You know, it’s lots of press, lots of stuff like that. He’s done a really good job of handling all that and kind of spacing it out.”
Family business
At the upcoming Tokyo World Championships, the first round of the men’s 800 meters will kick off at 6:35 a.m. ET on September 16. If Lutkenhaus advances, he’ll have to navigate the semi-final two days later. Then the final is set for September 20. He plans to use a similar approach that he took at the U.S. Championships—embrace his role as the newcomer.
“Obviously, not being a favorite to make the team, I felt like I had something to prove, but also nothing to prove,” Lutkenhaus said of his mentality before USAs. “It was everything to gain, but nothing to lose.”
In Tokyo, he wants to take it day-by-day and “try to do as well as possible.”
Health - Injuries:
- 800 meters in 2:01 (6 minutes rest)
- 6x 200 meters in 25-26 seconds (2 minutes rest)
- 600 meters in 1:30 (6 minutes rest)
- 200 Health - Injuries
His final 200-meter rep was nearly a personal best and a big confidence booster heading into Worlds. “I still have the fitness that I need for Tokyo,” he said.
While he was working out at the track, the Northwest cross-country team was jogging in the outer lanes, doing a pre-race shakeout and cheering him on. The school, as a whole, has rallied around its star athlete.
Lutkenhaus has known some of the teachers and coaches since he was in kindergarten, when his dad was coaching track and cross-country at the school. He would often run around the Northwest campus with his older brothers, George Jr. (now 22) and Drew (now 20). His roots run deep.
So deep, that Lutkenhaus even got his name from the Northwest cross-country team.
When Lutkenhaus’s mother, Tricia, was pregnant with him in the fall of 2008, she and George couldn’t decide on a name. So they put it to a vote. At cross-country practice, George passed out ballots to the 50 or 60 team members with three names: Cooper, Jackson, and a third that George can’t remember.
After the votes were tallied, George called Tricia: “Well, they decided on Cooper.”
“That’s fine,” Tricia said. “Let’s go with it.”
And so they did.
As he enters the next chapter of his career, Lutkenhaus will still be running around the Northwest High track like he’s done for years. Some things will be different, most will be the same. Either way, Lutkenhaus is confident he made the right choice.
“I feel like Nike is just such a big family,” he said. “I’m excited to join them.”
Theo Kahler is the news editor at Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
