The China Mail - Lutkenhaus confirms emergence at Oslo Diamond League, Tebogo beats Gout Gout

Lying in second place behind Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Lutkenhaus overtook the Kenyan 200 metres from the finish and appeared to be cruising to victory, but he failed to notice the 21-year-old closing in on him in the final metres, forcing him to dive across the line to secure the win.

Lutkenhaus won by a narrow margin in 1:42.08, a new personal best and the world's best performance of the year, just ahead of Wanyonyi (1:42.09).

"It was a very tough race and I had to dive for the line to be sure of the win," Lutkenhaus said.

"I knew (Wanyonyi) was on my shoulder and I was willing the line to come towards me. To beat the Olympic champion is awesome and it means a lot. I have not seen the grazes yet from my dive but I think they will hurt in the shower later."

In beating Wanyonyi, who has reigned supreme in the 800m since 2024, Lutkenhaus has shown that he has all the makings of a future star in the discipline.

Having become, in September 2025 at the age of 16, the youngest American to qualify for the World Athletics Championships, he made his debut on the Diamond League just four days ago in Stockholm, where he also won in a time of 1:42.70.

- 'I'll be back' -

The Oslo meeting proved less kind to the evening's other prodigy, Australian 18-year-old Gout, who was making his Diamond League debut.

Having impressed in the spring by clocking 19.67 seconds in the 200m –- better than Usain Bolt at the same age –- he was soundly beaten on the track at Bislett Stadium, finishing a respectable sixth in the 200m in 20.60sec, in a race won by Olympic champion Tebogo (19.84sec).

"This was my very first Diamond League and I thank God for this wonderful opportunity," Gout said.

"Tebogo is a great athlete, I've looked up to him for a long time and he deserved the win today.

"There's definitely a lot more room for me to improve but I have plenty of time on my side. There's always pressure on me but all I do is try my best and keep focusing...

"I love competing against the big boys and I'll be back for sure."

Tebogo had some words of advice for the budding talent.

"After the race, I wanted to talk to Gout Gout but he is so busy with all the media," Tebogo said.

"First and foremost, he should not get comfortable racing with the seniors. He still has a long way to go. He should by all means play with his age mates where he is a bit more comfortable because the more he runs, the more he pushes and the more injuries he is going to get."

The Oslo meeting was also marked by Olympic champion Julien Alfred's victory in the 100m in 10.76 seconds, though the wind was too strong (+3.2 m/s) for the performance to count as the world's fastest time of the year.

Local 400m hurdles star, Karsten Warholm, was beaten on home turf by his Brazilian rival Alison dos Santos, who won in 46.89 seconds.

C.Mak--ThChM