There are few venues more deeply embedded into track and field\u2019s soul than the Bislett Stadion. An extraordinary 70 world records have been set here. Plenty of reputations have been made. Plenty more left frayed, too.<\/p>\n
And so it proved again as the brilliant 17-year-old American Cooper Lutkenhaus added to his staggering r\u00e9sum\u00e9 by taking down the Olympic 800m champion, Emmanuel \u00adWanyonyi, with a race for the ages in Oslo. But another, the Australian star Gout Gout, learned what it is like in the big leagues.<\/p>\n
When it came to Lutkenhaus versus Wanyonyi, there was no time for preliminaries. At the gun, Wanyonyi charged after the pacemaker. \u00adLutkenhaus, who won the world indoor title in March, followed. They were through halfway at 49.81sec and already it was a two-horse race.<\/p>\n
Lutkenhaus showed he was no respecter of reputations as he kicked hard at 200m and went five metres clear coming around the bend.<\/p>\n
But as he tied up, Wanyonyi \u00adrallied, and Lutkenhaus needed a superman dive to run the fastest time of the year, 1min 42.08sec, to win by\u00a00.01.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo beat the Olympic champion is awesome and it means a lot,\u201d said \u00adLutkenhaus. \u201cI have not seen the grazes yet from my dive but I think they will hurt in the shower later.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are caveats. Wanyonyi had other things on his mind after the birth of his first child, Noela, last week. He is also looking to peak later in the season. Even so this was a mighty performance, as the Kenyan himself recognised.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis boy is in good shape,\u201d he said. \u201cCan you believe that as an Olympic champion, you are trying to knock down a 17-year-old boy? But the season is still early.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before the race the US website Let\u2019s Run had asked whether Lutkenhaus could be considered the world \u00adNo 1 if he won. But when asked about it afterwards the American offered a response beyond his years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d he replied. \u201cWanyonyi\u2019s the Olympic champ. Just because you beat someone one time, I don\u2019t think that means you\u2019re better than them. But today I had a great day and I was able to come out with the win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, another teenage \u00adphenomenon, the 18-year-old Australian 200m star Gout, had a much tougher evening as he could finish only sixth in his senior Diamond League debut in a modest 20.60sec.<\/p>\n